


Secret for Hope

by 80_Kegs85



Series: True Undertale side stories [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Secrets, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Secret Identity, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-07 22:04:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 64,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8817877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80_Kegs85/pseuds/80_Kegs85
Summary: Meant to be a sacrifice for the Monsters of the Underground, to be killed to sate what was said to be evil, Hope found something so much more. She found something a lot more than she expected. She found love and kindness and hope.But too much hope can be dangerous as well.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> A True Soul side story - The Underswap

Hope knew where she was going. And she was scared.

Like a lamb made to be a sacrifice to lure a lion, she knew that going into the mouth of the Underground would lead to dangerous things. She knew she was basically a sacrifice to better things to come. 

And it terrified her as she stood at the mouth of what she was told, Hell. 

Her heart beating fast, soul full of fear, she looked back once only to see the looks she recieved from men who were driven for only power. She flinched at those cold looks she had gotten and looked back to the darkness of Hell. 

She knew she was just a sacrifice. 

She knew she was meant to die by stepping off the edge. 

The stories that were told of this place. This mountain of Death......she heard the stories as a child and it frightened her. The world was not of peace, no matter how much she wished it was. 

The monsters......they had told her, they would eat her soul. They would devour her. They would reap her over and over again. This was her Hell. 

She was chosen to be the sacrifice. To sate the belly of the beast. 

That was what she believed. That was what she was told for years over years. That was what she was afraid of when she came of age and the marking was upon her soul. 

It terrified her. 

She was the sacrifice to the monsters. 

And she stepped off the edge, when the chanting of men grew too loud and she felt the blade tip touch her back, threatening that if she didn't go on her own, she would go down bleeding instead. 

So she stepped off the edge, falling into that pit of despair. 

Of course.......there were other stories too but they had been ignored. It had been crazy talk.

There had been stories of said survivors of the mountain where people had claimed that falling into the pit of the Underground was the best thing to ever happen to them. 

Those crazy people had claimed that they did meet monsters......but they were the kindest beings to ever exist. 

That had been crazy talk. 

Right?  
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Hope groaned as she felt herself waking up. She hurt a little bit but not as much as she thought she would after having falling off a cliff. She thought she would wake up in an agony and pain. 

But no. 

She didn't. 

She woke up on a bed of golden flowers, in a beautiful chasm of stone, stalactites hanging, water dripping the points of stone, glowing blue crystals in the ceiling.......a faint mist rolling around her. 

It surprised her. 

She woke up, looking around in confusion as she took in her surroundings. She hadn't been expecting this at all. She had expected to wake up in Hell. She had expected that the monsters from the stories would be there, ready to eat her raw and devour her soul. 

But no. 

She woke up in a beauty. 

The cavern was so beautiful with its glowing crystals all around her, the stalactites above her, , dripping water into small pools of water and stalagmites pushing up from the ground........the mist......

It.....it was almost magical, really.

Nothing she had been told before.

This wasn't how it was suppose to be. This wasn't like the stories she had been told to be scared into behaving for her adopted parents. 

No. 

This was......this was what the crazy people had said. This was was their stories. 

This must have been some kind of illusion. The Underground.....it must be just a way to put her off her guard. It was all lies. 

She wasn't......she wasn't going believe it. 

But she wasn't going to get any where by just sitting there on her butt. She knew she had to go. She had to let it happen. She had to follow what she had been told. She had came here to die. 

So.....might as well get it over with. 

Sighing, Hope pushed herself to her feet and looked around again with sad eyes. It was too bad this was all a lie. It was too beautiful. 

But too much beauty could be dangerous. It was just a distraction. 

Now walking on, Hope went to find the monsters she had been warned of. It was better to just get it over with than to make herself more scared of what was going to happen to her. 

Following the cavern walls, she found a door way, an entrance to another room where it was just black and it took the breath away from her as soon as she saw it. 

It surprised her greatly. 

It was just a black room, right? 

But no. 

This entire cavern here......it wasn't just a black room. The walls were black, almost endless darkness until she walked up to one of the dark cavern walls and touched it. The entire room was like the inside of a geode crystal. It was all just black crystal. 

It made Hope's eyes widened in surprise as she brushed her finger tips against the black bumps of the crystals, wonder sparkling in her eyes now.

"Wow." She breathed before turning to look at a single door way that awaited her. Her fear returning again. She knew this was just a distraction. 

Time to face the monsters. 

Taking a deep breath, she walked on towards the door and pulled it open, only to be met by Ruins. 

It was amazing actually. 

The cavern walls were carved like the halls of a stone castle and as she walked, she realized that was exactly what it was. She was in an underground castle. The whole cavern she was in was finely carved right through the cave. 

She kept on walking through halls of perfectly carved stone. Pillars of stone carve from ceiling to floor, rooms were shown as she walked. 

It looked abandoned because there was no one in sight and there was vegetation growing. Flowers growing, as well as grass and a few vines twirling on pillars and stone walls. 

It was too beautiful to be real. 

Hope kept on walking until she came to a very big tree growing in the middle of what looked like a court yard. It was a gorgeous tree with emerald colored leaves and a dark brown trunk. It was in full bloom with golden flowers growing on it.

And there, she felt her terror strike through her. 

There was a monster there, clipping flowers from the branches and placing them gently in a basket. It was a huge goat monster with snow white fur, other than the golden mane around its head and long black horns. It was dressed in purple clothes, with a red cape hanging around its shoulders. 

Hope trembled as she clung onto the wall of the cavern walls now. She knew this was it. 

She was going to die when it.....

"Hmm?" Came a deep rumble from the monster, it's long dangling ears twitching before it turned around and looked at her with clear blue eyes. It looked surprised to see her. "Oh! A visitor! Howdy!" 

Hope cringed as she saw it coming towards her and she ducked her head, tears filling her eyes as she waited for it to kill her. 

"Oh, dear! You're frightened, aren't you?" The monster spoke deeply and with surprise concern. It stayed back a little and offered a.....kind smile? 

Hope looked at it with surprise, wondering why it wasn't hurting her now. She wondered why it was looking at her with concern and kindness. Why wasn't it killing her like they said it would?

"Come now, my child. Come on out. I will not hurt you. There is no reason to be frightened. You must have fallen into the Underground. Ah, but no worries. No one will hurt you here. Would you like a cup of tea?" The goat monster spoke softly now offering a large paw towards her. "My name is Asgore, dear child. Welcome to the Underground." 

Hope just blinked in surprise at the monster, not believing this at all. 

Why wasn't it killing her just like it was suppose to?


	2. Two

Well, this was in deed a big surprise. 

Hope would have never imagined that she would be here. She would never would have guessed that she would be sitting at a table, sipping tea with Asgore, acting as if she was just with a friend.

Asgore was not how Hope had imagined he would be. She had heard of him, of course from the stories. She had heard he was cruel and unforgiving; the King of Monsters.

But she wasn't seeing it. 

It had taken some coaxing from the Monster King to calming her from crying, which she had immediately done. She couldn't have helped it. She had been so scared. She had expecting to die but now he was comforting her. 

Offering her tea. 

Hope was in deed surprised by all of it. She was seeing something different from what she had been told. She had been expecting evil but she just saw kindness. Especially of how Asgore acted. He was kind to her, offering her a shoulder to cry on even if she had been terrified of him. 

His voice.....it calmed her. 

And this tea........it was nothing like how she ever thought of it to be! It was delicious and it warmed her heart, body and soul! 

"Now, now, Child. How is your tea? Would you like some sugar with it?" Asgore asked warmly as he offered her the sugar bowl. 

It couldn't be helped that Hope smiled and shook her head as she sat at a very large table. It was sure large, that was for certain. She felt like a child at this table. It came up to her chest and her feet barely scraped the floor in the chair.

"N-no. Thank you. It's perfect." Hope said timidly. 

Asgore nodded before grabbing a chair and sinking down. He was quiet for a moment, studying Hope before offering a goofy grin. "Ya know, I never did ask your name. I apologize. What is your name?" He asked smiling. 

Hope shrank just a little but smiled back rather weakly. "Uh.....Ho-Hope. My name is Hope." She said softly. 

Asgore ' s eyes suddenly sparkled as he clapped happily, making Hope cringe but then laugh. "Hope! What a beautiful name! Just the sound of it brings HOPE to my heart and soul!" He said laughing. 

Hope couldn't help but laugh at the small pun. It wasn't a bad one either. "Th-thank you." She said in a small voice. 

Asgore nodded merrily before resting his hands together. "Now then, Hope. I would like to ask you, what on earth are you doing down here? And why were you so under dressed?" He asked motioning to her very form. 

It had been true. 

When Hope had came down, she had only been wearing a night gown of white. Something.. ..so scandalous, actually. She hadn't even been wearing any under clothes and it had made her blush. But the idea had been simple.

If she had been going to die, who cared what she had been wearing? 

"Um.....um...uh.....I......uh......" Hope stammered blushing but also trembling with fear. 

Asgore studied her for a moment before he sighed and shook his head. "The humans still believe in sacrifices to us then, huh?" He asked solemnly. 

Hope blinked at him in surprise. "Huh?" She asked her face growing pale. 

The Monster King just sighed shaking his head before picking up his tea and taking a sip. He put it back down. "You're not the first human that has ventured down here in such a way. It is believed that every seven years, a human sacrifice is sent to the monsters of the Underground to sate us. To keep us from breaking out and destroying mankind. To taking back the Surface for our appetites of human flesh. Is that right?" He asked gravely. 

Hope cringed in her chair, the fear returning. 

The King just smiled and shook his head. "Do not fear, child. Monsters are not like that. We do not enjoy human flesh, nor consume it. We are actually a peaceful lot. We do not enjoy harming humans, nor killing them. We do nothing but show them kindness and love here." He told her reassuringly.

"An-and.......those who f-f-fall into the Underground by accident?" Hope asked trembling. 

"We guide them back out of the Underground. We let them go." Asgore said gently. 

Hope just stared at him, frowning in surprise and bewilderment. "The stories......it says that you need human souls to break out of the Underground. Why not.....why not leave if you have the way?" She asked nervously.

Asgore just shook his head, smiling. "Despite what humans thinks of monsters, we do not like hurting people. We choose to remain locked up in the Underground rather than kill a human for their soul." He told her. 

"So it's not true......that the war between humans and monsters......that monsters killed thousands of humans....." Hope said as realization hit. 

Again the King shook his head. "No. It's not true. Once upon a time, monsters lived with the humans on the surface. We lived with them in peace, though there were some squeamishes. Humans......feared our magic. While Humans were and are stronger in the physical sense, we, the monsters, are stronger in magic. They saw our magic and feared what we could or would do with it. They threatened us with war. Quite a few monsters died because of violence against our kind but we refused to fight back. To keep more violence from happening, I agreed with the humans to let us be locked away into the Underground. Therefore, here we are. And we shall stay until our Royal Scientist can break the barrier. But without violence against humans." He explained. 

Hope didn't know if she could believe him but....she felt the truth within his words. She knew he was being honest. She felt it. "You......the stories then? Why would they start that?" She asked softly. 

Asgore smiled softly. "One time, a long time ago, a human fell into the Underground. A child named Chara. He was running away from a bad situation at home, on the surface. He fell into the Underground and here, he stayed. Not just because he was badly injured. Because he liked it here. My son....." he paused smiling softly. "My very own son, Asriel found Chara and brought him home to me and my Queen. We adopted him as our own because he did not want to leave. One day, Chara grew very ill. We did not have the proper medication to save him. He would have died if he remained here." 

Hope stared with growing sadness. She had a feeling that she knew what would have happened. "And.....did he......?" She asked softly. 

Asgore slowly nodded with sadness. "There was nothing we could do. As he laid dying.....in my arms.....he made a final wish. To go back to the surface to see some Golden flowers that grew in his village, at the foot of the mountain. He wanted us to have them. He wanted whoever would take him to the surface to bring back a golden flower to plant here." He sighed softly. "My son took his soul and took his body back to the surface. When he returned, he had been hurt gravely. The humans saw him and thought that he had killed Chara. They hurt him badly but all he did was smile, bring Chara back here with a single golden flower. Which, we used the seeds of to plant flowers down here. That tree......that you saw......that was the first golden flower tree."

"Ch-Chara's Tree then?" Hope asked now looking at him in wonder. 

Asgore smiled before nodding. "I suppose after Chara's death, the stories started spreading about the monsters. Most stories are always twisted around. I do not know where the humans got the idea of sacrificing their own kind to appeasing our hunger but......no and then, every seven years, they send a human down to be devoured by us and we just send them right back up to them." He said smiling and shrugging. "It is.....sad but kind of entertaining at the same time. In the times that human sacrifices are sent to us, they are always afraid of us. And we show them why not to fear us." 

Hope couldn't help but smile in curiousity. "How do you do that?" She asked in wonder. 

Asgore grinned at her. "We let them wander the Underground, making new friends out of monsters. We show them everything about us. And when they leave, they leave with a smile on their faces. If you would like, I can show you to the door of the Ruins, to the rest of the Underground. You can go to the Queen's castle and she will let you go back to the surface." He told her. 

Hope frowned again, a little concerned. "Why are you here, in the Ruins? You're the King. Why not be back in the Castle?" She asked tilting her head.

Smiling sadly, Asgore looked away from her, looking elsewhere. "When my sons died, we buried Chara at the tree and spread Asriel ' s ashes upon his grave. I cannot bear parting from them. I remain here, in the Ruins, taking care of the tree, and finding humans that fall, to direct them to the Underground to go to the Queen to leave." He said before smiling gently at her and then patted the table. "Now then, you must want to wash up. I believe we have many clothes here that you can choose from in the spare bedroom. The water in the bathroom can only go to luke warm but it is very refreshing. You may use the shower, if you so wish. And choose from the clothes that hang up in the closet." He told her. 

Hope smiled but nodded as she pushed back away from the table and hopped down from the chair onto the floor. "Thank.....thank you, Asgore. You're very kind." She told him.

Asgore just dipped his head as he stood up and motioned towards the hallway. "The bedroom is the first door you will meet. The bathroom is just down next to it. The room farthest down is my own. But if you wish to explore, please go ahead. I have nothing to hide, if you are still concerned about me." He told her before motioning to the tea cups on the table. "I will just clean up here. And prepare for supper. How about that?" 

Hope just smiled as she nodded. She was very hungry, now that she thought about it. But she could wait until supper. "Thank you." She told him before heading to go find the bedroom. 

Along the way, she found a mirror hanging on the wall and she looked at herself, frowning sadly. 

She saw herself and sighed. 

While she was rather pretty, with a baby like face, clear complexion, heart shaped face.... ...she bore a scar over the left side of her face, near the hair line, from forehead to her lower jaw, curving like a Cresent moon. 

She appreciated that Asgore hadn't said anything to her about her scar, but she was sure he had been wondering. She just hoped she wouldn't need to tell that story to anyone. Her long golden amber hair spilled down her back in straight waves to her waist was what she used to try and hide her scar. She held interesting amber colored eyes, with a hint of gold and silver in each of them. 

She was a pretty girl, but marked. Marked by the cursed mark, as the other humans had said. 

Hope looked down at her left arm, touching her birth mark she had at the crook of her elbow. She hated the birth mark. 

That flame shaped mark.......

She had been told that it was a cursed mark. That she would be the next sacrifice because of it.....because of her soul. She didn't understand what was wrong with her soul......she just listened to what she was told. 

He had told her.......her adopted father.......he had told her that she was the one.......the hope of mankind......to destroying the monsters and magic. 

Thus her name.......

She never wanted this. 

She never wanted to hurt anyone, monsters especially, even though they frightened her. She wasn't sure if she could do this now. She wasn't sure.......

Not after meeting Asgore and seeing how kind he really was. 

Hope.... ..Hope did hope she would find a reason not to follow through with what she had been sent into the Underground for. She really, really hoped she wouldn't have to do this.........


	3. Three

Hope felt so much better after taking a shower and getting cleaned up. She had laughed a little when she did take a shower, having found several bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the shower stall. It had been amazing on the size of the shower but with the size of Asgore, it was understandable. 

And she figured with him being covered in hair, he needed a lot of shampoo and conditioner. She definitely smelled better than she ever had, due to the soap being flower scented. 

Once out of the shower and using a huge beach towel to dry herself off, she got dressed in the clothes she had picked out from the closet. There had been a lot to choose from. 

Hope had chosen a yellow sweater with green stripes and blue jeans to wear. She also picked out a pearl creme colored hoodie from the closet to add on to it before finding multiple brushes in a dresser. She chose one that looked like it hadn't been used and brushed out her long hair, which hadn't been too easy with how long her hair was. 

Once she towel dried her hair and brushed it over and over again, she pulled it up into a half ponytail and made her way out of the room. 

Following a heavenly scent of food, she found Asgore setting the table for two and placing spaghetti in the middle. It smelled wonderful. And so did that steaming pie the as now on the table beside it. 

"Oh! Howdy, Hope! You made it right on time! I hope you like spaghetti! And loganberry pie! With cinnamon on top of course!" Asgore said happily. 

Hope couldn't help but giggle as she looked right at him and saw that he was wearing a frilly pink apron that said Love My Cooking and in smaller words under it, And the Chef!

It was adorable and she couldn't help it. 

Asgore laughed just because she was and pulled out her chair for her to climb up on. He even took off the apron and just tossed it onto a large love chair sitting by a warm fire. 

"I do like spaghetti. Thank you, Asgore. But....what are loganberries?" Hope asked curiously. 

Asgore sat down and began serving her bit he wore a big smile. "Think......Blackberries! Only bigger and sweeter! They grow down here in a place we call Waterfall! They are very sweet, practically a dessert their selves. Please, now. Eat up and then I will read you a story. And then in the morning, I will take you out of the Ruins. I have a friend who will be meeting you at the doors. He will take you to see the Queen." He told her 

Hope felt the anxiety return again but she offered a smile as she began to eat. She had never tasted something so good in her life. Asgore was a wonderful cook and the good settled in her stomach like a rich homely feeling. 

The pie was in deed delicious, as well and she was practically sleeping as Asgore read a book to her by the fire. She fell asleep to Fluffy Bunny Saves the Day. 

In the morning, Hope woke to a delicious smell and she went to see what Asgore had cooked up this time. She was pleasantly surprised to find him cooking pancakes and roasting bacon and sausage over.....a ball of flames. 

The King looked at her with a smile and offered her a seat at the table to wait for him to finish. "Now then, Hope." He said softly as she sat down at the table before bringing over her breakfast. "I will take you to the Ruins exit, where we will part. My friend will be waiting for you. But before you go, I would like to offer you a bag full of clothes and supplies for your journey." 

Hope felt her heart clench. "Oh, you don't have to do that!" She said flushing in embarrassment but gratitude. 

Asgore just smiled at her but shook his head. "I know. But I would like to. Please accept." He said smiling warmly. 

Hope smiled, tears in her eyes. She was so touched by his kindness that it hurt. She just wished he wasn't so.....kind and good. It was making things harder on her. She just hoped that the other monsters weren't like him. "Thank you, Asgore. You're so......so wonderful. I am so glad to have met you." 

"And I, you, Hope. You're such a delightful human. And I am so glad to have met you." Asgore said smiling softly at her as he wrapped a big arm around her and hugged her, making her heart clench but also swell in happiness. "Now then! Let us eat and then we shall prepare you for your wonderful journey." He then halted now in concern when he saw a tear slide down her face as she sniffed back tears. "Oh, dear! Are you well?" 

Hope sniffed again and wiped furiously at her eyes as she blushed. "I'm sorry! It's just......" she sighed now looking down at her lap. "I've never had someone be so kind to me before." She said embarrassment. 

Asgore looked taken aback. "Oh? Well, why not? You're such a delightful child, Hope. And lovely. Are the other humans not kind to you?" He asked in concern. 

Shaking her head, Hope flushed in embarrassment again. "No. Not really. You see......I'm an orphan. I....uh...was adopted and I'm sure it was out of pity or pride. But even......" she cringed in her seat at the memories that came to her. "I......my adopted parents....." 

Asgore grew more concerned as he thought of it. "They didn't fight for you, did they? When you were sent down here to die?" He asked somewhat horrified. 

Again, Hope shook her head as she hunched her shoulders. "No. In fact.....they were very pleased by my choosing of being a sacrifice. They said it was an honor to be chosen to feed the monsters." She said sniffing back more tears. 

Sighing, Asgore gathered her up from her chair and hugged her, despite the squeak she had made. "Terrible. I do not like to speak ill of others, but....what terrible parents. What of your biological parents?" He asked as he nuzzle her with his head.

Hope felt like a child again in his massive arms but couldn't help but feel like she didn't mind. It was the first time that she had ever really been held like this. She had never had this with her parents. "They told me that my mother died giving birth to me. And I do not know anything of my father. I figured he must have died too because he never claimed me." She said sadly. 

"I am so sorry you've had such a life, Hope. I truly am." Asgore said softly before kissing her on the head before setting her down. "Now let us eat." 

Hope just smiled but nodded as she began to eat. 

While they ate, Asgore did ask her what she liked to do when she was on the surface. And of how old she was. 

Hope merely shrugged as she ate the food, which was delicious. "I'm 20 years old. I.....um.....I used to be a dancer." She said blushing. 

Asgore ' s eyes lit up as he smiled. "A dancer?! Oooh! How exciting! What kind of dancing?" He asked fairly intrigued. 

Hope smiled again but shrugged. "Ballet. I used to dance a lot and I did love it. I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer. But....." she once again, lowered her head. "My adopted parents said it was a foolish dream. Especially when I was chosen to be the sacrifice." 

"Tsk. Perhaps before you leave the Underground, maybe I can see you dance some day. And your parents are foolish. Not you. Dancing is a wonderful dream." Asgore said and recieved a grateful smile from Hope.

Finally, it was time for Hope to leave. 

Asgore had made sure to give her the clothes of her choosing and a few supplies before he lead her downstairs of his home and down a long corridor. He had even given her a thicker light blue jacket with a hood, stating where she would be going was going to be very cold. 

Hope was curious but she figured she would find out soon enough. 

They finally came to a set of large purple doors with an insignia on them, which Asgore pushed open and Hope had to gasp at what she saw on the other side. 

A breeze of chilled air touched her face as she saw the winter wonderland on the other side of the door. There was snow everywhere she looked and it was so beautiful. Snow covered trees everywhere and glistening icicles hung from branches. 

It was gorgeous. 

"Wow." Hope said in wonder and Asgore smiled at her. 

"Beautiful is it not? These are the Winter Woods and that path leads to Snowdin Town. A wonderful little town. I think you will like it. Have you heard of Christmas?" Asgore asked pleasantly. 

Hope looked at him with bright eyes and nodded. "Who hasn't? I've never had a Christmas before though. My parents didn't celebrate it. They said it was a foolish holiday and for spoiled kids who get whatever they want." She told him. 

Asgore scoffed gently but then smiled. "Well, they were certainly wrong. That is not what Christmas is about. It means more than that. But you're in luck then. Because Snowdin celebrates Christmas every day there!" He said brightly. 

Hope blinked in surprise. "Huh? But isn't Christmas one day a year?" She asked in bewildered. 

Asgore shrugged grinning at her. "Well, that is true. But the monsters of Snowdin love the holiday so much and because there is always snow here, they celebrate it all of the time. If not once a week. You'll get to have your first Christmas either way." He said grinning. 

Hope felt the excitement of the idea. She liked to hear that, actually. Even if it meant if it was down in the Underground, if she could see what Christmas was, she was looking forward to it.

Asgore looked away from her, towards the snowy woods, now frowning. He seemed to be looking for something, or someone. There was no one there though. "Hmm. It seems that my friend is running late. He should have been here, waiting for us. He said he would be here." He said before folding his arms. "Oh, well, I suppose we can wait." 

They waited and waited and waited. 

It was starting to get very cold while they waited. Hope shivered from the cold and tried to find something to do. She poked around in the snow, found a bush......and a camera? 

Was someone......was watching them on that camera? 

It was blinking a green light, stating that it was on. And it followed her as she began moving around. And it creeper her out so she went back to Asgore ' s side.

After forty fives, however, Asgore scowled. "I bet he fell asleep again then. He is such a lazybones, after all." He sighed before shrugging. "Well I suppose we could go look for him. I really should not leave. Just in case another human falls down. But....." he was saying. 

Hope grimaced but then shook her head. "It's okay, Asgore. I can just go on by myself. Maybe I can find him, myself. It.....it should be safe, right?" She asked nervously. 

"Well, yes. It is safe here. No monster would attack you, my dear child. But I don't want you getting lost." Asgore said before huffing then pointing at the pathway that was I covered in snow. "Follow the path, child. Do not stray from it. It should lead you right to Snowdin. And along the way, you may run into my friend. He is easily recognizable. He wears an orange shirt. When you find him, scold him for me." 

Hope smiled faintly but nodded. She probably wouldn't scold his friend. She would more than likely be too scared to. But she would find him. "Thank you, Asgore, for everything." She said before stepping in and wrapping her arms around his bulk. 

Asgore just smiled as he engulfed her in a hug before kissing the top of her head. "Take care, child. And stay safe. Though, there should not be a problem with that at all. Nothing bad ever happens here." He said before stepping back. 

Hope laughed nervously but nodded. "Th-that's good. I hope......I hope it stays that way. Well, goodbye then, Asgore." She said before turning away and started to walk. She did not want him to see her saddened look she now wore as she walked through the snow down the path.

For several minutes, she walked on down the path before turning back to see if Asgore was still there, watching her. 

And he was. 

Asgore waved when she turned around and she waved back. He then turned and went back into the Ruins. 

Hope turned with a sigh and walked on. 

Travelling a good while down the path, Hope sighed to herself as she stared down at the ground. She was nervous about this whole thing. She was in the Underground, alone. She had thought she knew things about the monsters but everything she had been told......

So far, she saw only lies. 

Asgore had proven it. He had been kind and caring. He had been loving. Not at all that she had been told. She had been told that all monsters, especially the King were cruel and vicious. But she hadn't seen it. 

It saddened her to know why she was there. She was there under false pretenses. To be sacrificed to something that wasn't true. 

The other stories......the crazy people's stories had been true.

And it just.....it just broke her heart to think that humans not just feared the monsters but hated them. They hated the monsters when they didn't even know how that they really were kind beings. 

At least Asgore had been. 

Hope still didn't know about the......

She suddenly yelped as she felt her feet catch on something and she stumbled forward, waving her arms as she tried to catch her balanace. 

Steadying herself, she looked around with apprehension, thinking someone might tried to trip her and her eyes fell onto a branch that must have fallen onto the path. It wasn't a big branch but a small one. 

Sighing in relief, Hope just shook her head as she turned and walked on. She needed to watch where she was going from now on. She might walk right off a cliff next time if she didn't. 

As Hope walked on, she felt a shiver go up her spine. She felt like she was being watched now. She could hear footsteps now. Footsteps that were not her own. And they were right behind her. And it scared her.

Finally, she came to a bridge over a large crack in the ground. She did look down the crack and saw that it went down deep. She shivered more before stiffening. 

The footsteps were coming closer and she felt her entire body freeze as she huddled to herself. 

And finally they stopped right behind her. 

Someone was there behind her and it brought sheer terror through her as she just stood there, frozen with terror. She could feel her heart pounding now as she stared down at the crack and the bridge. 

"HUMAN. IS THAT ANY WAY TO SAY HI TO A NEW FRIEND? TURN AROUND AND SHAKE MY HAND." Came a creepy, kind of raspy voice, like the owner was trying to scare her. 

Hope whimpered before slowly turning around, keeping her head down in her hunched fear but offered her hand to whoever was standing there. She didn't want to look to see who might attack her and probably kill her. 

Asgore might have been nice but this one didn't sound very nice. 

He sounded.......

The monster reached out and took her hand. 

BZZZZZZT!!

Hope yelped in shock as she felt something in the monster's hand buzz her and she yanked her hand back, now shooting herself back against the railing of the bridge with growing fear. 

And a cackle broke out from the freaking tall monster she was now looking at with wide eyes. 

It was the tallest skeleton she had ever seen. He must have been 6'11. She had to crane her head just to look at that long, grinning skull. The skeleton was wearing an orange hoodie and dark khaki shorts. He long legs that lead to orange and white skater shoes. He even had a small chain hooked to his beltline, maybe a wallet chain.

Two pin prick eyes of warm orange stared back at her from those almost empty sockets. 

"Heyo!" The skeleton spoke again still snickering some as he held up his hand to show her a buzzer he had. "The ol' hand buzzer trick is always funny! My name is Papyrus! Papyrus the skeleton! Ya must be the human Asgore told me about! Sorry, I'm late to picking ya up! I fell asleep at my station." 

Hope just gaped at the skeleton in surprise.


	4. Four

The skeleton now looked at Hope with concern when she didn't respond for a good solid minute. He hoped he hadn't broken her because the way she was staring at him. 

"Uh, ya okay, human?" 

Hope just gaped at him before slowly pointing at him. She still couldn't believe it. She was looking right at a walking, talking, living skeleton. "You're......a skeleton." She blurted out still stunned. 

The skeleton blinked at her before he reached out with his hand and patted down his skull then reached down to pull up his hoodie to reveal ribs and a spine under the hoodie. "Well, would you look at that. I am a skeleton. Golly gee, I didn't notice that." He said snickering. 

Blinking a few times, Hope realized how foolish she had been saying that. "Oh......I'm sorry! That was rude, wasn't it? I'm so sorry!" She said shamefully. 

The skeleton just chuckled as he dropped his hoodie before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Eh, no worries. I'm not offended. In fact, I think it," his wide grin spread wider. "It went right THROUGH me." 

Hope blinked a few times before she snorted and started giggling. She got it that he was joking. She couldn't help it. "Oh, that was a good one." She said covering her mouth. 

The skeleton grinned and spared her a wink. "Like jokes, huh? I'm full of them. Or something.....not really full of anything really. Since I'm all BONES. But hey, I'm a PUNNY guy." He stated. 

Again, Hope giggled.

"Anyway, like I said, I'm Papyrus. And you are?" The skeleton asked smiling down at her. 

Hope just smiled a little shyly as she shrugged. "I'm Hope." She told him a somewhat small voice. 

Papyrus' lit up as he smiled at her. "Hope? Nice. I can definitely make a few good ones with that. So, Hope, why don't I show ya around as we head back to Snowdin?" He said now motioning for her to go across the bridge. 

Hope nodded as she started walking and he fell in right beside her. "So you're Asgore ' s friend?" She asked softly. 

Papyrus nodded as he walked beside her, looking forward. "Yup! Me'n Asgore go back a ways. I met him a while ago when I was patrolling around here. But I only did it because my lil' brother wouldn't let me nap at my station. Which I should probably warn ya about." 

Hope now looked worried. "Wa-warn me about what?" She asked. 

"Eh? Ah, no worries. Ya see, as Asgore might ' very told ya, humans fall down here every once in a while. It's been ruled that if we find humans, we take them to the Queen, Queen Toriel." Papyrus began to explain. "No humans gets hurt down here. We just find 'em and they get to go home to the surface. But the catch is," 

"There's a catch?" Hope asked worriedly. 

Papyrus waved a hand in the air as if brushing her worries away. "It's not like what ya might be thinking. We don't hurt humans, okay? I promise. And I don't make promises cuz they suck to keep. Too much effort. But," he paused. "The Royal Guards made it kind of a competition about who gets to find a human, capture them and take them to the Queen. My baby bro, Sans, really wants to be one of the Royal Guards. He's still a trainee and he's working really hard to become a Royal Guard. But the thing is, he hasn't really ever seen a human before. But he has claimed to be a human hunting fanatic." 

Hope still looked worried. "Okay. He.....he won't hu-hurt me......?" 

Papyrus smiled at her but shook his head. "Nah. He won't hurt ya. He is as innocent as they come. He's just really full of energy and hyperactive. He's harmless. But if ya can do me a favor, let him see ya and catch ya. So it would do him a favor and get into the Head of the Royal Guard ' good graces so he can be a Royal Guard." 

Making a face, Hope shrugged. "O-okay. I guess......I can do that." She said uneasily. 

"I promise. He won't hurt ya. He's a good boney boy." Papyrus said smiling warmly. He then looked forward and brightened. "In fact, here he comes. Wanna have some fun with him?"

Hope looked forward and did see something blue coming their way. It was coming kind of fast, actually. She whimpered nervously before ducking behind Papyrus, who chuckled and looked forward again. 

"PAPY!" Came quite a loud, booming voice as it came up to them quickly. And it didn't sound happy at all. "PAPY!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO RECALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLES AN HOUR AGO!! ALPHYS SAW THAT THEY WEREN'T SET AND I GOT YELLED AT!!"

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry, bro. Didn't mean to get ya into trouble with Alphys. I was........CHILL-AXING." Papyrus said now chuckling.

Hope flinched a little when she heard a high pitched squeal coming from the new arrival but she couldn't help but giggle quietly at Papyrus' pun. 

"PAPYRUS!! NO PUNS!! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE YOUR PUNS!!" The brother remarked loudly before sighing. "AND HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO BE IN THE ROYAL GUARD WHEN I CAN'T EVEN GET YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO! AND WHAT IF A HUMANS COMES THROUGH HERE AND THEY DON'T GET TO DO MY MAGNIFICENT PUZZLES?! I HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO CATCH THE NEXT ONE, PAPY!" 

"I know, bro. It's your dream to be in the Royal Guard. I'll get right on the puzzles then." Papyrus said shrugging before reaching behind him for Hope, who hesistated before giving one of her hands to him. He took her hand and made her clench onto his hoodie and she got the idea so she did held onto his hoodie with both hands. 

"THANK YOU, PAPY!!" 

"Right after I have a nap!" Papyrus said kind of lazily as he stuffed his hands into his hoodie again. 

The brother, Sans screamed into the air and it sounded like he was jumping up and down. Hope giggled again, not helping it as she pressed her face into Papyrus' hoodie to stifle her laughs. 

"NONONONONONONONO!! PAPY!! I NEED YA TO DO IT NOW!!" Sans whined. 

"Chillax, Sans. A human isn't gonna to be coming down any time soon. We got plenty of time for a nap." Papyrus said snickering as he turned away, with Hope having to follow in turning around, so that she could be seen by the new monster. 

Nervously smiling, Hope looked right at the monster, who suddenly gasped at the sight of her. 

It was a very much smaller skeleton. He was much smaller that Papyrus and was definitely a little shorter than Hope. He, in fact, looked to be the size of a thirteen year old. 

At perhaps 4'11, the skeleton was a tiny bit stout but not too much. He was bone thin, pun intended and he wore what looked like an overly large blue t shirt with a bright yellow star on the front with shoulder pad armor and a blue bandana around his neck. He even wore blue shorts and blue snow boots. Blue clothes on his hands, definitely for winter weather. And he the biggest blue eyes that Hope had ever seen. Blue lit up in his eye sockets. He was a small, kind of round but simply adorable skeleton, to be perfectly honest.

Hope couldn't help but smile at him. She could already see that Papyrus had been telling her the truth. His brother was very innocent looking and cute, for a skeleton. 

"GASP!! PAPY!! WHAT IS THAT?!" Sans gasped pointing at Hope.

Papyrus turned around and Hope went with him, now giggling madly as she found herself out of view from Sans again. "Hm? What's what?" 

"THAT!! BEHIND YOU!" Sans yelped pointing at Hope, or trying to. 

Papyrus turned only his head, looking behind him and Hope leaned the other direction to keep him from seeing her. She understood the game he wanted her to play. And while it was silly to do, she would play along. 

"I don't see anything, bro. What're ya looking at?" Papyrus asked definitely snickering. 

Sans huffed before jumping up and down. "IT'S BEHIND YOU, PAPY!!" He barked definitely pouting.

Papyrus turned the other way to look behind him and Hope leaned the other way, giggling. He was definitely trying not to laugh, himself. "I still don't see what you're......" he was saying. 

"ARGH!!" Sans groaned in exasperation before speeding forward and literately getting behind Papyrus to tackling Hope, who yelped as she was tackled to the ground. Thankfully it didn't hurt at all but it made her nervous as she found a small skeleton sitting onnher stomach now, pointing at her. "THIS, PAPY!! WHAT IS THIS?!" 

"Whoops!" Papyrus said now grimacing before reaching down and grabbing his little brother by the shirt, who yelped as he was lifted right off of Hope. "He wasn't suppose to tackle you." He said now offering her his hand. 

It couldn't be helped as Hope giggled either way as she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up to her feet. "It's okay. He didn't hurt me." She said smiling. 

"PAPY!! WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHO IS THAT?! WHAT IS IT?!" Sans asked now looking confused.

Papyrus snorted as he looked at his brother still dangling from his hand but he shoved his other hand into his pocket. "Her name is Hope, Sans. And she is a human." He said simply shrugging. 

Sans just gasped and in quite an exaggerated way as he clapped his gloved hands to his skull. His eyes literately turned into bright yellow stars. "A HUMAN?! REALLY?!" He gasped again as the biggest smile formed on his face. "I DID IT!! PAPY!! I DID IT!! I CAUGHT A HUMAN!!"

Both Hope and Papyrus had to laugh at his enthusiasm. It was too adorable for Hope to see any harm into it at all. 

"Aww, Papyrus! He's too cute!" Hope couldn't help but say. 

Sans immediately blushed blue, looking very much like a blueberry and Papyrus had to throw back his head and just laugh. 

"Yup! He's my lil' Blueberry!" Papyrus cackled as he slapped his knees before setting Sans down, who puffed his cheekbones out at him. "Bro, this is Hope. Hope, my lil' bro, Sans. But don't be afraid to call 'em that either. Cuz he always looks like a little Blueberry." 

"PAPY!! YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME!!" Sans whined stomping his feet in the snow. 

Hope giggled again before looking at Sans. "Is it okay if I call you Blue, at least?" She asked in her sweetest voice. 

Blue dusted on Sans' face again but he gave her a shy smile. "UH.....UH.....SU-SURE.BUT AS LONG YOU CALL PAPY SOMETHING TOO!" He said sheepishly. 

Hope looked at Papyrus before smiling. "How about Stretch?" And she recieved curious looks from both brothers. "Well, you're really tall and thin. You kind of stretch out there. So......Stretch?" She asked now grimacing a little. 

"Heh, sure. Call me Stretch then if it puts a smile back on your pretty face." Papyrus, or rather Stretch said before he stood up straighter again. He almost laughed when Hope went bright red from his words. "So, should we continue on to Snowdin then?" 

Both Hope and Blue nodded smiling. 

"AS LONG AS SHE GETS TO DO MY PUZZLES! SHE HASN'T DONE THEM YET!!" Blue said happily. 

Hope nodded as she just smiled at them. "Okay. I like puzzles." She said softly. 

Blue just gasped happily and even clapped his hands. "OOOOH! PAPY!! I LIKE HER ALREADY!!" He bellowed out. 

Stretch just snickered as he began to walk with the two. "Yeah, me too, Blue." He said and Hope blushed again as she walked with them.

The puzzles that they ended up running into and Hope having to do were......interesting to say the least. 

The first puzzle happened to be a plate of frozen tacos. And while they did look delicious, they were still frozen to the plate.

According to Stretch, Blue's cooking was pretty good but he always forgot that eventually food gets cold. Especially outside in a winter wonderland like this part of the Underground. The whole point of the puzzle was to interest some human to eating them as a distraction so that Blue could catch them. 

Hope understood and stated she would like to try Blue's cooking some time. 

That seemed to make Blue very happy either way. 

The next puzzle was pretty tricky and quite clever, actually. Hope knew that she would have had a hard time figuring it out if Blue hadn't accidently blew it. 

It was a maze of some sort. 

As it was explained, Hope would have to hold a small round orb in her hand that would buzz her if she stepped in a wrong place and give her a light jolt of electricity, more like static, according to Stretch. The ground apparently had magnetic plates that would some way set off an electric current if she stepped on the wrong ones and because she was holding the orb, she would be zapped. 

Blue had forgotten to give the orb to her and because he was on the other side of the small maze, he walked through it, showing her which plates to step on.

Hope followed his foot steps and went through the maze with ease, impressing Blue highly before he was off running ahead to make sure the next trap was set up. 

"You look like you're having fun." Stretch said as he walked with her. 

Hope nodded, smiling. "I am. It is kind of fun. Blue.....he is sure a sweetheart, isn't he?" She asked as they trudged through the snow. 

Stretch smiled and nodded. "He is. Blue tries hard to be the big bad Royal Guard but he is really just a softy. He has more heart in him than he is tall." He said warmly. He was obviously very fond of his baby brother.

Smiling as she walked, Hope looked up at him. "So.....is it just you two then? What about the rest of your family?" She asked.

Stretch grimaced as he looked back at her and shrugged. "Well......it's complicated. Yeah, it's just me and my bro. We had a dad......but.......he was a total jerk. He left us, not wanting anything to do with us any more." He said a little gruff. He obviously didn't want to get into it. "What about your family? What are ya doing down here, actually?" 

Hope looked away, her eyes saddening again. "It's.....complicated, I guess." She said softly. 

Stretch looked down at her now frowning. And then he sighed. "You were a sacrifice, weren't ya?" He asked and recieved a surprised look. "Yeah, I know about that shit. Excuse my language. Every monster knows about the humans' sacrificial rites and all. Don't know why they think we eat humans but it's stupid." 

Hope slowly nodded. "Yes. I was chosen. My parents.....they weren't my parents. They adopted me and I think they never really wanted me. They didn't seem sad to see me go. They seemed so happy that i was chosen, actually. And I don't know anything about my real parents. Myom died giving birth to me and my dad......I never knew who he was." She said somewhat sadly.

"M' sorry ya had to go through that then. You're scared of monsters, aren't ya?" Stretch asked though sounding like he understood.

Hope just shrugged. "Sort.....of. I mean, I was terrified when I met Asgore. But he seemed okay and you and your brother seems okay. You're not hurting me." She said and the yet was there. 

And as if Stretch heard it, he just smiled and dropped an arm around her shoulders, making her flinch. He paid no mind to it though. "And no one will hurt ya. That is a promise I don't mind making." He told her. "And I'll tell ya what. Stay with me and my bro for a few days instead of going right to the Queen to go back to the surface. We will show you around, let you meet some monsters and let's see if we can't change your mind about monsters. How about that?" 

Hope cringed just a little bit but smiled faintly. "Well......I don't want to be a burden to you." She said almost shy immediately. 

Stretch shook his head as he smiled down at her. "Ya won't be. If you were going to be, I wouldn't offer. Come on. Stay with me and Blue for a bit. We can show ya a great time down here with monsters." He told her. 

Smiling faintly, Hope nodded finally. "O-okay. But just for a few days. And......um.....can.....can you maybe....." she grimaced. 

"Hm? What?" Stretch asked curiously. 

Hope blushed a little as she ducked her head a little. "I've never.....um.....Asgore said that Snowdin celebrates......Chri-Christmas......"she blushed in embarrassment. 

Stretch dropped his arm and gaped at her in surprise. "You've......never had a Christmas before?" He asked bewildered. 

Again, Hope blushed but shook her head. 

Sighing, Stretch now rubbed his forehead. "Damn. You've definitely been abused and neglected if you've never had a Christmas." He then smiled as he looked at her. "Okay. We will definitely be having a Christmas while you're here. It'll be fun." He told her. 

"I.......I'm sor......" 

"Nope!" Stretch interjected. "Nope. Don't be sorry. Christmas is a great holiday and one should at least try it once in their life time. It's about friendship and family and giving to each other. You're definitely going to have a Christmas." 

Hope smiled sheepishly before she saw something from the corner of her eye. She looked around Stretch to see a light through the trees. She frowned when she saw a few flashes before shifting to peer through the trees to where it was coming from. 

And she froze when she saw the source. 

"Who.....who is that?" Hope asked in surprise when she saw a shack in the middle of the trees. She wasn't looking at the shack though. She was looking at the monster in front of the shack with a big bonfire right out in front. 

A monster made completely out of yellow and orange fire. 

The monster made of flames, however, was wearing clothes and it was a big surprise that the clothes were not even burning at all. It was wearing brown pants and a brown jacket that had definitely seen better days. 

The monster, however, was waving his arms over the bonfire, making the flames almost dance with the movement of his waving hands. He would move one hand and the flames moved with it and then he would move the other and it moved again. 

It was almost like an alluring dance with the other flames. 

Curiously enough, however, Hope felt her left arm tingle a little bit. Her.....her birthmark, actually. It felt like it was growing warm under her jacket. Like.....like there was something familiar about that monster.

Stretch hummed thoughtfully as he looked through the trees and then back at Hope. "Oh. That." He muttered before shoving his hands into his pockets again. "That's Grillby. He's......" he grimaced as he stood with Hope, watching the flame monster make his fire dance. "He's.....kind of a hermit in the Underground. He doesn't talk to anyone. He doesn't socialize with anyone. He just stays out here, in his house. He comes to town once in a while, selling fire to families to keep warm when it gets really cold." 

Hope looked at the tall skeleton curiously. "He sells.....fire?" She asked. 

Stretch nodded as he watched the fire element monster. "Yeah. Snowdin is a cold place, with all of the snow. Sure, anyone can make a fire but fires die out when it's not tended to. Grillby's fire burns on for a week or two without even dying down at all. And not everyone has time to keep checking the fire." He told her. 

That was definitely quite a curious intake. 

"Magic, right?" Hope asked as she looked back at Grillby. 

Stretch nodded. "Yeah. Monsters are all made completely out of magic. Some even have fire magic like that. The Dreemurr family, which is the Royal Family and Grillby are mostly the only monsters that use fire magic though. But The Dreemurr family, well the King and Queen don't have time to play with fire like Grillby does. And monsters have jobs so they can't keep the house constantly warm by having a fire going all the time." 

"So......monsters buy fire from him?" Hope asked astonished. 

Again, Stretch nodded. "Yep. That sounds about right. And what's makes it really cool is Grillby's fire is really controlled. You can leave it alone in a fireplace for hours and it never dues down or even crackles out embers and starts fires in houses. It stays in the fireplace every time. And if the house gets pretty warm for families, the fire goes down and let's the house cool off and then cranks up again when it gets too cold." 

"Sort of like a heater constantly going off at certain temperatures." Hope said now looking amazed. 

"Yep. It's pretty handy what Grillby does. It's just too bad he is so antisocial." Stretch said shrugging before he turned to leave. 

Hope spared another look back at the fire monster before she turned and walked with the skeleton. "Why is he? Doesn't he like anyone? Or doesn't he have family?" She asked curiously. 

Stretch shook his head as he scratched the back of his skull. "No. He's alone. Always. You see, the whole war between humans and monsters, years and years ago......a lot of Elementals like Grillby died. Mostly the Fire Elementals, really. Grillby......well.....he's one of the very last fire elementals there is. There is two others. His ex-wife and his daughter, actually." He told her. 

Hope felt her heart clench at his words. She felt.....sad to hear that Grillby was probably the last fire monster ever. Other than two others. 

"Where.....where are they? His ex-wife and daughter?" Hope asked frowning with concern. 

The tall skeleton shrugged. "Um......I don't know the details. I don't think anyone does because Grillby doesn't talk to anyone. But.....rumors has it that his wife and daughter left him. It's why he is alone and he is the Underground Hermit. Rumors goes that.....well.....Grillby did something. Something that monsters really frown upon." He said a little uneasy. 

"What did he......do?" Hope asked looking up at him with alarm. "Did he hurt them?" 

"Unintentionally. Rumors go that he cheated on his wife. Fell in love with someone else." Stretch said grimacing. 

It dawned on Hope and she blushed but also looked horrified at the same time. "He.....he had an affair with someone else." She said in realization. 

Stretch nodded making a face. "Yeah. I mean it's just rumors and most of the time, rumors gets twisted around and sometimes are just lies. But....Grillby doesn't correct anyone. He doesn't say anything. He hasn't said anything to anyone for years, since his wife left him with their daughter. I've seen them before up at the capitol. His daughter is a green flame elemental and her name is Fuku. She never contacts Grillby or tries. So I'm thinking her mom has something to do with that or she doesn't care to talk to him again." He said making another face. 

Hope felt pity for Grillby. She knew if the story was true, he probably did make a mistake and he was suffering for it. But.....it was just sad. 

"Does anyone try and talk to him?" She asked. 

Stretch nodded. "All the time. Sure, what he did was highly frowned upon and mostly everyone else but everyone in Snowdin ignores him. Everyone in Snowdin does try and talk to him. He just doesn't ever say anything back. Sans tries to talk to him all the time and he does seem to like my bro because he hasn't said anything else. But.....that's just it. He doesn't say anything." He told her. 

Hope just sighed softly as she glanced back the way they had came. "That's really sad. Who was it he had an affair with?" She asked. 

The Skeleton just shook his head. "Not even I know that. It was a......hush hush thing. No one knows who it was he cheated his wife on with. There's just rumors and that's it." He told her before he looked forward again. "We probably should drop the subject now. Looks like we're coming up to another one of Sans' puzzles. This one should be easy." He told her as they approached an area where Blue was. 

Still, Hope couldn't help but feel sorry for the monster, Grillby. She knew he must have done something terrible to lose any kind of respect from some monsters. But at least the monsters of Snowdin seemed to try and connect with him. 

The question, however, was, why did her arm start tingling when she had seen Grillby?


	5. Five

The town of Snowdin was amazing and it took the breath right out of Hope as soon as she saw it. She couldn't help but stare at the little town and just smile with wonder. 

After a few more of Blue's puzzles and one lazy one from Stretch, which hadn't been terrible because it was just a piece of paper on a table; a Sudoku actually, Hope found herself a lot more comfortable with the Brothers. She had laughed at Blue's reaction to Stretch ' s Sudoku puzzle. He hadn't been happy at his brother's lazy attempt of a puzzle. 

One of them had been really good, actually. 

A puzzle where Hope had to step on plates that would turn them into different shapes had been really good one. She was to make all X's into O's. 

It hadn't been easy because of how many she ended stepping on multiple times, making it a little frustrating but fun. 

It only got more fun when Stretch turned it into a Tic Tac Toe game. Even Blue had fun with that and all three of them kept changing the plates into their own claimed shapes. 

Eventually the puzzle was solved and they moved on. 

They had ran into a few monsters along the way and while Hope had been scared at first, she slowly relaxed when she saw how friendly the monsters actually were. Especially some of the Cat monsters they ran into. 

They ended up running into a Cat couple named Burgerpants and Catty; which hadn't been BP'S real name but he had a funny story that explained why he was called Burgerpants. 

Apparently Catty really liked monster food called Glamburgers. He adet her and she had been hungry so he had bought several Glamburgs and because he had gotten so many he put them into his pants pockets to take to her and her best friend, Bratty. 

Hope couldn't help but laugh a little when BP told her that when he went to Catty with the Glamburgs, they had been so heavy that his pants fell down. He had been so embarrassed that he didn't show his face for a week. 

But Catty added in that she had been so flattered that he tried to give her Glamburgs that she gave him a chance and now they were together. Now they were very much in love with each other.

It was cute and Hope awed at their story. 

Finally they reached the town of Snowdin and Hope's breath had been taken away by it. 

It was a small town but very cute. The town had probably only about twenty houses in it, plus a Library, which the sign was spelled wrong, a small Inn, a cafe and a little shop run by rabbit folk. 

But it was very decorated for the Christmas season. Christmas lights on every building lit up the streets colorfully. Lights on trees, snowmen built in front of the houses. There were Christmas decorations everywhere. It was a Christmas town and the Christmas music that played made a warm feeling touch Hope's heart. 

It was beautiful.

"Wow." Hope breathed before looking up at Stretch as he grinned at her. "It's beautiful. This is what Christmas looks like?" 

Stretch nodded and Blue looked curiously up at her. "Yep! This is Christmas! Wait until later. Almost the entire town will sing Christmas carols before calling it a night too. It's pretty nice." He said with a shrug.

"WAIT A MOMENT!! YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT CHRISTMAS?!" Blue gasped his gloved hands on his cheek bones. 

Hope looked at him and shook her head, smiling faintly. "No. My parents didn't celebrate it. They said it was a stupid holiday. In fact, I don't think we celebrated anything. Not even birthdays. Well......maybe theirs but I've never had a birthday either. Sort of anyway." She said sadly. 

Blue gasped and Stretch grimaced. 

"Your parents sucks then. Sorry, but they do." The tall skeleton stated before looking surprised when Blue dashed away. "Hey! Bro, where ya going?" 

"I'M GONNA GET HOPE A CHRISTMAS PRESENT!" Blue called back as he dashed away towards the shop. 

Hope hissed now uneasy. "Uh! He doesn't have to do that!" She said holding out a hand as if to stop Blue but he was already gone. She looked desperately at Stretch, who was grinning at her. "He reallly.....he really sho-shouldn't!" She told him.

"Last time I tried stopping him from doing something, he wouldn't shut up about it. Even when i tried to sleep. Eh, just let him do it. Ain't no stopping him once he puts his mind to it." Stretch said dismissively. He then motioned to the cafe. "Ya hungry? We can stop by Muffet's." 

Hope looked curiously at the cafe and did have to smile. It was a cute little place, painted pink and purple with lighted strings hanging in the front. She didn't know why the window panes looked like colorful spider webs but it was a cute little place. "Okay. I guess I am a little hungry. All that puzzle solving did make me a little hungry." She then frowned. "Oh, but I don't have any money." 

Stretch shrugged. "Eh, it's okay. Muffet usually serves first timers for free. Plus I got a tab there and we can just charge it to that." He told her. 

Hope shrugged but still looked uncertain. "Oh.....okay." she said softly before following him to the cafe. 

It was stepping into the cafe then did Hope freeze with growing terror. She froze right in the door way when she got a good look around. 

It wasn't exactly that it was full of monsters that bugged her. Sure, they made her nervous. She wasn't going to deny that they might have scared her a little bit. But it wasn't them. 

It was all of the spiders that were crawling around on the celing and even delivering food to the monsters. It was the larger spider that was practically dancing around, taking orders that made her freeze.

"Hey, ya okay?" Stretch asked her, having noticed her freezing up.

Hope grimaced as she looked weakly up at him and then back at the spider monster, who had noticed them and was now walking towards them. She cringed before latching onto the tall skeleton, who blinked in surprise as he looked down at her before looking at the spider. 

"Well, well, Papyrus. Who do we have here? Do you have a date for once?" The spider spoke and Hope was surprised more than embarrassed. It was definitely a female, though she should have noticed that the spider was wearing a very cute pink and purple dress. 

Stretch, however, snickered before swinging an arm over Hope's shoulders, trying to get her to scoot forward but he stopped when she tensed up and could feel her anxiety. "This is Hope, Muffet. She's a human who fell yesterday. Just showing her around the Underground before taking her to the Queen to go home." He stated. "Hope, this is Miss Muffet, the best cook in the entire Underground." 

"Heh, you're just saying that to get out of paying your tab, aren't you?" Muffet scoffed before smiling warmly at Hope and offered one of her many hands to shake hers. But she frowned when Hope cringed back. She, however, did looking understanding. "Oh, dear. You're scared of spiders, aren't you?"

Stretch looked surprised but Hope grimaced in shame and slowly nodded. 

"I'm s-sorry. I don't mean to be rude. I......when I was five, some bullies locked me in a closet full of spiders. I was in the closet for four hours before someone let me out again." Hope said softly and full of shame. 

The skeleton jerked in surprise before Muffet tsked with a scowl. 

"Oh dear. You poor thing. I am so sorry for that. Please, believe me. Spiders are mostly harmless. They're actually very gentle creatures unless provoked. I promise, I will not harm you, nor will my own spiders." Muffet said gently, offering a hand again. She smiled gently. "Can I offer you a free spider donut? And no, they're not made of spiders. They just look like spiders. And tea?" 

Hope hesistated before reaching out to take Muffet's hand, surprise by how warm the spider monster actually was. She felt as if her fear just melted away.

There was just something about Muffet that calmed Hope. She was almost.....too warm and comforting for a spider. Almost......alluring in a way that made Hope want to feel comfortable around her. She allowed Muffet to lead her to a seat with Stretch following after.

Once Hope was sat down, Muffet clicked happily and a few spiders dropped down from the celing onto the table, delivering a donut and tea. "Now, if you need anything, dearie, feel free to ask for me. Everything is on the house today." She said before giving Stretch a look. "Except for you! You still owe me a tab payment!" 

"Aww, c'mon, Muff. I'll pay next time." Stretch heard pouted at her. 

The spider monster sighed before she clicked again and a spider dropped down with a yellow bottle that was clearly honey. "I don't know why I put up with you, Papyrus." 

"You do it because I'm handsome!" Stretch said taking the bottle with a wink. 

Muffet growled. "No! Sure, you're a good looking skeleton! But I do it for your brother!" She growled before stomping away. 

Stretch chuckled before looking at Hope, smiling. "She's got a big crush on Sans." He told her when she looked puzzled. 

Hope couldn't help but giggle as she took the spider donut with a thank you to the spiders. "Well, Blue is adorable. And how come I'm comfortable with the spiders now? I'm terrified of them but I'm not feeling it any more." She said puzzled. 

Stretch just smiled at her as he held the bottle of honey. "Well.....let's say that is Muffet's magic working on you." He chuckled when Hope looked aurprised. "Muffet has this way to make anyone more comfortable. Her magic is kind of messing with emotions. An empath, actually. She literately takes control of anyone's emotions and throws it out the window. She is very charming and sweet. But can be very strict, as if you hadn't noticed with me."

And then he put the honey bottle to his mouth and began to drink it. 

Hope stared with wide eyes. 

Stretch downed half of the bottle before setting it down and looking back at Hope. He frowned when she looked so bewildered. "Hm? Something wrong?" He asked before wiping at his face and finding a little drip at his teeth so he liked it. "Better?" 

"Okay. I'm sorry if this comes off a little rude but where does it go?" Hope asked now blushing. 

Stretch stared at her for a moment before throwing back his skull and laughing. He then patted his middle. "It goes right here, sweetheart. I might look like a skeleton and I kind of am but I'm a monster who looks like a skeleton. Even boney guys like me eat. It's magic food anyway. And we are made of magic. It goes right to our souls." He said still laughing. 

Hope cringed but blushed. "So-sorry." She said bashfully. 

Stretch just smiled before shaking his skull. "Don't be. You're learning about monsters." He said with a shrug. 

Smiling, Hope tilted her head curiously. "And you like honey?" She asked.

"Yep. I love it. It's really sweet and I like sweet stuff. Drives lil' bro nuts that I do drink so much of it. He wants me to eat healthier and I do, but I got a big," Stretch paused grinning. "SWEET TOOTH." 

Hope laughed shaking her head as she found that amusing. She had to admit it but she liked honey too. She held out her hand for the honey. "May.....may I?" She asked almost shyly. 

Grinning, Stretch pushed the honey towards her and laughed when she drank out of the bottle. "Heh, you're full of surprises." He said before winking at her. "And you're sweet. So no wonder I like ya." 

Hope blushed, ducking her head. She was flattered but deep inside, it made her sad all the same. No one had ever called her sweet before. And she found that Stretch was pretty sweet, himself. 

"Th-thank you." 

"No problem, sweetheart." Stretch said giving her another wink. 

For some odd reason, Hope couldn't help but that Stretch might have been...sort of flirting with her a little. She blushed at the thought and then tried her spider donut, humming when she found it delicious. It was the best donut she had ever tasted. 

Still, it made her feel warm for the first time in a long time. Well......really, the second time. She had never met people so nice like these monsters before. 

Why couldn't humanity be more like these monsters, she had to wonder?


	6. Six

By the time that Hope and Stretch got to his house, she had to admit that she was impressed with everything she had seen so far. She had to admit that she was going to like the little town of Snowdin. 

The monsters of the town had heard that she was there and once they had left Muffet's, who just had been too good to the lost human, they were immediately greeted by several monsters. 

Hope had been nervous at first, latching on to Stretch ' s hoodie again but then she relaxed when the monsters had shown respect of her boundaries. She felt herself grow very comfortable with them when mostly they greeted her warmly, a Bunny monster had offered her a Cinnebunny, which she took but promised to eat it later because Muffet had made sure she hadn't left without a full stomach. 

The monsters were simply delightful to her. 

It kind of hurt a little to see how friendly and caring they actually were. And it made Hope feel more ashamed deep within but she hid it well with her smiles. 

And finally, they reached Stretch ' s house, which was at the end of town. It was a nice two story house with a pirate flag on the roof, which made Hope giggle. She figured it suited Stretch and his little brother well. 

Once they went inside, Hope was surprised. 

Blue was there, setting up a small pine tree in the corner of a large living room by the lumpy green couch. He apparently wanted her to have the full experience of a Christmas because he grinned at her as he steadied the tree then pointed at a box he had close to an old TV in the room. 

"MERRY CHRISTMAS! WANNA HELP ME DECORATE THE TREE?!" Blue asked happily. 

Hope giggled, tears in her eyes from being so touched by this whole thing. "Thank you, Blue. I.....I really appreciate this." She said somewhat weakly but happily nonetheless. 

Blue just grinned before dashing over and taking her hand, tugging her closer to the tree. "COME ON! IT'S SO MUCH FUN!!" He said merrily before grabbing a strand of lights and began putting the on. 

"Well, I'm just gonna sit right her and supervise." Stretch said now plopping down on the couch and was scowled at by the smaller skeleton. 

Hope giggled. 

In truth, Stretch had fallen asleep while watching them decorating the tree. He was out in five minutes flat and it made Hope wonder how he could sleep through all of the noise that Blue was making. The little skeleton wasn't exactly very quiet. 

But she did have fun as she helped Blue put ornaments on the tree, as well as popcorn strings , wrapping around the tree. 

It was very nice and it did make Hope feel warm inside. She even listened to Blue as he kind of belted out some Christmas songs, finding that he wasn't a terrible singer at all. His voice was actually very nice to listen to when he was boom talking. Not that it was bad in the first place. He just talked very loud. 

The tree was finished and according to Blue, the last thing to put on it was the tree topper, which was actually a bone painted to look like an angel. 

Problem was, neither Hope nor Blue could reach the top of the tree. 

"PAPY!! WAKE UP!!" Blue bellowed now standing in front of his brother. 

Stretch groaned as he rolled his skull, still sleeping. "......'ive......more.....minut........s, bro......." the tall skeleton mumbled sleepily.

Blue huffed but then Hope touched his shoulder, stopping him. "Blue, maybe I can lift you instead. That way you can reach the top and put it on. Let him sleep for just a little for a just a little bit longer." She told him. 

"BUT THAT'S ALL HE EVER DOES!! PLUS I AM HEAVIER THAN I LOOK!! NAH, I'LL LIFT YOU INSTEAD!! BESIDES, IT'S YOUR FIRST CHRISTMAS!! YOU SHOULD HAVE THE HONOR OF PUTTING THE TOPPER ON!!" Blue said before moving over to the tree. "HERE, GET ON MY SHOULDERS!!" 

Hope hesistated she looked at him nervously. She really didn't want to hurt him. She was sure she was heavier than she looked too. But with a sigh, she took the tree topper and went over to the little skeleton. "Ar-are you sure? I might be too heavy for you?" She asked uneasily. 

Blue nodded as he patted his shoulders. "YEAH, JUST CLIMB UP ON!! I'M PRETTY STRONG!! I AM THE MAGNIFICENT SANS AND NO FEAT IS TOO MUCH FOR ME!! MUYHEHEHEH!" He told her. 

Sighing, Hope moved to climb on to his shoulders and with a yelp, she was lifted with ease with her sitting on top of him, her legs straddling his skull. He did seem pretty strong, actually. He didn't seem to be struggling with her weight or anything.

The problem was, they still came up short from the tree top. 

"OKAY!! STAND UP ON MY HANDS!!" Blue said as he now grabbed her feet and started lifting her. 

Hope sucked in air of unease but did rise up, wavering a little bit as he lifted her up higher with his hands. She was pretty much standing on his hands now as she reached for the top. She almost had it too. 

But then stopped knocked on the door. 

Hope felt Blue jump right with her as he turned a little bit and she lost her balance, now falling forward towards the tree. She couldn't help but give a squeaked scream as she fell forward and closed her eyes for impact. 

The last thing she needed was to get her eyes poked by the tree needles. 

However, a warmth wrapped around her and she felt herself stop from falling. She felt like she was coated in warmth and yet.....flying at the same time. 

Opening her eyes, Hope gasped softly to see her surrounded by orange light and she was just hovering in the air, as if being held up by the light. 

"Whewf. That was close." Came Stretch ' s voice and she turned her head to see him now fully awake, his left eye lit up with orange fire and his hand stretched out, surrounded by the same orange light. He gave his hand a light jerk and Hope drifted away from the tree before was gently set down. "Ya okay, Hope?"

Still a little shakened, Hope nodded though she was still very surprised to have seen what Stretch could do with his magic. It was obviously his magic that had saved her from pitching forward into the tree. She hadn't known he had that kind of magic. But then again, she never asked what his magic was.

"I'LL GO GET THE DOOR!!" Blue suddenly said, reminding them all why Hope fell in the first place and he dashed over to the door. "OH!! HELLO, GRILLBY!!"

Hope blinked and looked over with Stretch to see that indeed, the Fire monster was at the door. She didn't know why but her arm felt warm again as she even looked at the Fire monster.

"Hey, Grillbz." Stretch said now standing up and going to the door to greet the monster. "What can we do for ya today?" 

The Fire monster said not a word but then held up one of his hands as a ball of flames formed in his palm. He motioned to it with his other hand, dipping his head. 

"Ah, well, we don't have a fire place, Grillbz. We're skeletons so we don't get cold like everyone else does. But sure. We will take one of your fires. After all, we got a human staying with us for just a little bit. And she does get cold." Stretch said motioning to Hope who ducked her head shyly when the Fire monster looked at her. "Oh, yeah. Ya haven't met yet. Grillby, this is Hope. Hope, Grillby."

Hope ducked her head shyly and waved at Grillby. "He-Hello." She said timidly while also rubbing at her arm. Why did it feel warm again? 

Grillby returned the wave and his entire being seemed to glow in warmth before he dug into the inside of his ragged jacket and pulled something out. He held it up to show them all a golden necklace with a glass vial hanging on the end. He closed his hand and the ball of flames disappeared as he opened the glass and poked the opening of the vial and it filled with flames, not burning it. 

And then he held it out to Stretch, pointing it at Hope, who stiffened as she understood what he meant. 

Stretch smiled and nodded as he took the necklace before digging into his baggy khakis for some gold. He only stopped when Grillby crackled a little, shaking his head as he held up his hand. "Hmm? Free?" He asked sounding a little surprised. 

Grillby just nodded as he stepped back. 

Hope gasped softly, now shaking her head. "Oh, no. No, that's okay. Thank you but surely you should be paid for it!" She said now flustered. 

Again, Grillby shook his head as he held up a hand, backing away before motioning to the necklace again and then to Hope before he turned and walked away from the house. He didn't even look back. 

Stretch chuckled before looking at the necklace then at Hope. "Welp, you're stuck with it now. Here. It's obviously a gift to you. From what I can see what Grillbz did to it, he put his warming fire into it. Looks like he wants ya to stay warm while in Snowdin." He said as he offered it to her. 

Hope gave a little shiver before going over and taking the necklace with shaking hands. She almost gasped to feel the warmth coming from instantaneously. "Wh-why would he give it to me for free?" She asked. 

Stretch shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Who knows why Grillbz does anything? He's just a nice guy. Half of the time he doesn't even charge anyone for his fire. Especially when they're struggling with money." He said smiling warmly. "That's Grillbz for ya. It's a gift from him so just keep it." 

Slowly, Hope just smiled faintly as she looked at the glass vial with the tiny flame. She had to admit it. She was surprised and flattered that Grillby gave this to her. It....it was rather beautiful. The flame glowed against her skin and she was surprised it wasn't burning her. 

It was just warm. 

She felt warm. She could feel the heat of the fire spread through her hand just by touch. She felt comfortable with it. It was like sitting before a fire on the winter's night. Warm, safe, homely. 

It felt nice. 

Hope looked at Stretch and Blue, smiling at them before she bit her lip. "Can you help me put it on then?" She asked seeing the latch on the necklace. 

The tall skeleton nodded smiling before reaching over and taking the necklace. He unlatched it and then swiveled a finger for her to turn around. He waited until she did and even swept back her long hair before carefully put the necklace around her neck and latched it. 

The moment it was on, Hope felt the warmth just spread and it made her smile. She could feel it all over and even giving g light pulses as if like a heartbeat. It was like the flame was it's own heart and it gave off a hearth of care. 

Hope dropped her hair before turning to smile at Stretch again. "Thanks." She said feeling her face flush only a little. 

"HEY! WE STILL NEED TO PUT THE TREE TOPPER ON! PAPS!! HELP US!!" Blue bellowed out as he danced over and plucked the topper off the ground where it had fallen. He held it out to Hope. "HOPE GETS TO PUT IT ON THOUGH!! IT'S HER FIRST CHRISTMAS SO SHE GETS TO DO IT!!" 

Hope looked uneasy again as she backed away from him shaking her head. She wasn't ready to take a spill like she had......

And then she felt hands on her waist, making her help as she felt her be scooped right up onto a tall shoulder. She immediately scrambled to clutch onto the skull now holding her. 

"Ya got it, bro. It's okay, girly. I won't drop ya." Stretch said as he carried her with ease to the tree. 

Hope swallowed hard but then to the offered topper when Stretch took from his smaller brother and she began tying it to the tree. She was grateful that Stretch was so tall so she could reach with ease and he did have a good grip on her. She felt stable enough. 

Once the topper was on, Stretch backed away and shifted so that Hope would slip right off his shoulder. She yelped as she fell but suddenly blushed when he caught her in a bridal style before setting her on her feet. 

"All right then. Now that's over, how ya give her your present, bro." Stretch said grinning as he went over and plopped back down on the couch. 

Blushing, Hope shook her head flabbergasted for two reasons. 

One, where Stretch ' s hands had touched her felt very warm. She felt herself extremely hot from embarrassment. And two, Blue immediately held out a beautifully wrapped gift. The wrapping paper was of Santa Clause and reindeer and golden stars. 

"Oh, Blue, you......you re-really shouldn't have! I don't have a gift for you!" Hope said emotionally and embarrassed. 

Blue, however, grinned widely at her, shaking his skull. "THAT'S OKAY, HUMAN HOPE!! YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS ALL I WANT! WE ARE FRIENDS NOW, RIGHT?!" He asked only slightly uncertain. 

Hope felt a hiccup of emotion and gratitude hit her, as well as shame but it touched her heart and she smiled a watery smile at him. She couldn't help it as she bent over Blue and kissed him right on top of his skull. "Ye-yes, Blue. We are friends now." She told him. 

Blue's entire skull turned bright blue and his eye sockets popped with yellow stars in them before he simply fell backwards onto the floor, clutching his cheek bones. "MUYHEHEHEH!! WOWSERS!! A FRIENDSHIP KISS!" And he fainted. 

Stretch cackled with laughter, having to hold his ribs from laughing so hard. He definitely found humor while Hope looked on with concern. 

"Is.....is he.....okay?" Hope asked frantically. 

"Heh, he's fine. Sometimes he does that when he's overwhelmed but it's not bad. Come here and take a load off. And open your present." Stretch said patting the couch beside him. 

Hope blushed again but then did as she went over and sank down on the lumpy couch with the small wrapped package onnher lap. It was a little lumpy and obviously something made of cloth. She could feel how soft it was through the paper. 

But curiousity won over her and she opened it the gift, only to gasp softly when she found a light blue but wooly and beautiful scarf. It was definitely woven beautifully and very soft to touch. It had small yellow stars woven into the fabric all over and it struck Hope's heart and soul with warmth and emotion.

Tears filled her eyes as she touched the fabric and even felt how soft it was. 

"Oh." Hope sighed softly as she felt a tear escape down her cheek and she saw from the corner of her eye that Stretch was frowning with concern. 

"Ya okay?" He asked. 

Hope sniffed as she immediately wiped her eyes but smiled at him. "It's.....it's beautiful.....and so soft.....I've never recieved such a thoughtful gift before......." she said emotionally. 

Stretch smiled and even Blue had woken up to hear that, both smiling warmly at her. "Welcome to the Underground, Hope. Where love and care is our nature." The older skeleton said as he folded his arms behind his skull. 

And Hope believed him. 

And for once in her life.....she felt welcomed and accepted. She liked the feeling that she got from this place and from these monsters. It was nothing like she had grown up to fear. 

And she was glad.


	7. Seven

It was a couple days of having the time of her life, that for once, she found enjoyment while staying with the brothers. 

And for once, Hope had really found that enjoyment, that fun while being with the brothers. She almost forgot all of her worries and fears because of Stretch and Blue. She had had more fun that she had ever had while being with them. 

In the next couple of days, Hope had had a snowball fight with them, listened to the entire town get together around a huge Christmas tree and sing carols, she made snowmen with the Brothers and she learned just how magnificent they really were. 

Her fear of monsters melted like snow under a hot sun because of the skelebrothers. 

For once, Hope found herself unafraid, hopeful and welcomed. 

But Hope should have remembered her time was short in the Underground. She knew she couldn't have stayed like she kind of wanted to. She knew eventually she would be called to meet the Queen of the Underground. 

The calling came with a yellow stout dinosaur monster in armor with a brute attitude, kicking down the door that scared the bejeesus out of Hope.

Now hiding behind Stretch, the young woman watched as Stretch and the yellow monster arguing about how she would pay for a new door if she broke it after doing it for the fiftieth time. And Blue.....well, he seemed to be very fond of Alphys because he kept interjection to Stretch about her paying for the door that she nearly broke.

"Bah! Oh, shut up, Papyrus! If I break the damn door, I'll replace it again! Now where's the human?! I wanna see her!" Alphys growled as she zeroed her somewhat beady yellow eyes onto Hope, who cringed behind Stretch. 

Stretch huffed but then turned his skull to look down at Hope. "It's okay, Hope. She won't hurt you. She can be a little intense but she won't hurt you." He reassured her. 

Hope shivered but stepped out from behind him, not looking up at Alphys. She wasn't sure if she could. She was nervous about facing such a monster like her. 

However, it was proven she didn't have to look up because Alphys nearly just a few inches shorter than her and she walked right up to her, peering right into her face. 

It startled Hope into stepping back right into Stretch, since he was behind her again. Her back hit his chest but other than that, she felt trapped with the yellow monster just right in her face. She now had no choice but to look right back. 

Alphys was a little shorter than Hope, her lizard like skin was sunshine yellow and rather shiny as if she polished her scales. She had a little bit of a spiky head and she wore glasses on her face. Her armor was steel grey and red striped and she did look quite fierce with scars running down one side of her face, probably from some kind of battle she might have gotten into.

"This.....is.....is the human?" Alphys asked skeptically and Hope flinched just a little bit. "She's scrawny. Much scrawnier than the other humans came through." 

Hope flinched again when she felt Stretch place a hand onto her shoulder but he didn't seem to notice or reacted to it. 

"Be nice, Alphys." Stretch grumbled. "She's had it rough. The humans sent her down as a sacrifice. And they put quite a bit of fear into her as it is. She's still getting used to the fact that we ain't like the monsters she was told about." 

Alphys huffed but backed away, folding her arms. "Bah! Nearly all of the humans that were sent down here to be sacrificed! She isn't any different! Anyway, the Queen sent me to get her! She wants to meet her and then send her back to the surface! That stupid weed is acting up again!" She growled. 

Hope blinking as she looked at her and then up at Stretch who frowned but didn't look worried. "Wee-weed?" She asked timidly. 

Stretch looked down at her but shook his head smiling lazily at her. "It's just a flower monster she is talking about. He's mostly harmless. Just like the rest of us. But he can play some pretty mean pranks. Especially on humans that fall down here. He doesn't seem to like humans very much. It'll be okay. You won't have to meet him." He told her. 

It still made Hope nervous. 

Not too much longer, Hope was being escorted to the Capitol to meet the Queen, which she was very nervous about meeting. She wasn't sure what to expect by meeting Monster Royalty. 

Sure, she met Asgore but he seemed pretty normal and humble. But what about the Queen? 

Should she bow before her? 

Should she grovel? 

Lead to the outskirts of town, Hope found herself on a boat with two skeletons and a lizard monster, looking around with wonder. She was curious about the rest of the Underground but nervous at the same time. She saw many things as they rode in the boat, past a part of the Underground that was rather dark but beautiful and watery. It was lit up by glowing crystals in the walls of the huge cavern. 

Now that Hope paid attention, she did notice that the darkened roof of the humongous cavern had glowing crystals in it, glowing like colorful stars and if she had to be honest, it was beautiful and comforting to see them. 

The boat stopped somewhere very warm and Stretch told her it was called Hotland, not a very original name and she even told him so. He laughed and said that Asgore had named all of the places, not having been very original in the first place. 

Hotland was indeed very hot and it was because of the hot lava that Hope saw and it did make her very nervous to see it. 

But according to Stretch, she couldn't fall in even if she tried. 

Queen Toriel and King Asgore had seen to that many years ago, when a few accidents had happened. They had worked spells with other monsters and ensured that no other accidents could happen by putting up magical barriers over the lava.

That was a relief if she had to be honest. 

Walking through pathways surrounded by lava and up a long starway, the group came to an elevator that Alphys announced that would take them to the palace where Queen Toriel was waiting. Hope was shaking a little from anxiety.

And she flinched when Stretch placed a hand onto her shoulder. 

"Hey, it'll be okay. You have nothing to worry about. The Queen is the nicest monster in the Underground. She is nicer than Asgore. And you've already met him." Stretch told her softly smiling at her. 

Hope exhaled shakily but nodded. "I.....I.....I'm sorry.....I'm really nervous. Do.....Do I bow to her because she is a Queen?" She asked trembling nonetheless. 

There were chuckles around the elevator as the three Monsters looked at her. 

"Nah. Queen Tori won't care if you bow to her or not. She is pretty easy going and nice. She won't make you grovel or kiss her paw or anything. If anything, she will ask to hug you. She loves hugging. She is more of a motherly type of monster." Stretch told her. 

That eased Hope only a little but not by much.

And finally, they reached the palace and in truth, it looked more like a mansion. It was a big, beautiful house, perhaps three stories tall, maybe five rooms wide with a beautiful garden surrounding it. Golden flowers everywhere made it smell so good. Green vines trailed down from the side of the house and there was a running fountain just outside in the garden.

The sight of it took Hope's breath away as she looked around, only to hesistated when she saw the monster outside, waiting for them. 

The monster was another goat monster and quite smaller than Asgore had been. It was obviously female by how much smaller it was and she was wearing a very lovely purple gown trailing to the ground with long sleeves. A small golden tiara on her white head and her eyes were a lovely lavendar, full of kindness as she looked right at Hope, who swallowed hard and dipped her head down shyly. 

"You're Majesty, Queen Toriel, I have brought the fallen human as ordered and of course my Trainee, Sans and his lazy good for nothing brother, Papyrus!" Alphys growled as she shot the tall thin skeleton a dark look, who just lazily grinned back at her. 

Queen Toriel made an amused sound before she looked at Hope and motioned her forward with her large paw. "Please, child. Come forth. Don't be frightened." 

Hope cringed with nervous air but then stepped forward, past Stretch. She didn't dare to look at the Queen at all. 

"Oh, dear, she is a shy one, is she not?" Toriel said softly before stepping forward and then gently touching Hope's chin, making her flinch as she finally looked up at her. The Queen just smiled softly at her as she cupped her face. "Do not be afraid. You are safe here, child. No harm will befall upon you. My name is Toriel Dreemurr. What is your name?" 

Swallowing hard again and playing with her own fingers, Hope merely tried to smile but couldn't quite get it to form properly. "Ho-Hope. M-My name is....is....Ho-Hope." She said quietly. 

Toriel smiled as her eyes lit up. "Hope. What a lovely name. Would you like some tea then, Hope? And then we can talk about your departure from the Underground?" She asked softly.

Hope grimaced, nervously as she dipped her head before she bit her lip. "Um......uh......I.....was......" she was saying. 

"Hey, it's okay, kid. You're safe here." Stretch said now placing a hand onto her shoulder and then he frowned when she just dipped her head, looking saddened. "Hey, what's with the long face now?" 

"Well......" Hope said uneasily before she sighed and lowered her head more. "I......I.....I was.....kind of.....hoping....." 

"You do not want to return to the Surface, do you?" Toriel said softly her eyes softened greatly. 

Hope looked at her shyly and did see the surprised looks on the monsters' faces. But she shook her head. "N-not......not really. I was sent......I was sent down here to die. I......and I don't want to go back because anyone who was ever returned was said to be crazy......they were outcasts......" Hope said sadly. "I.....I just don't want the same to happen to me......" 

She saw Sans and Alphys share a glance but Toriel smiled softly before nodding. 

"Then let us talk about your stay over some tea." The Queen said softly now backing away. 

Hope looked at her in surprise. "Re-really?! You'll really let me stay?" She asked now perked up a little. 

Toriel dipped her own head, smiling. "Yes. If you so wish. While Humans do not really belong down here, they are welcomed. Most of them want to be returned to the Surface. But if you would rather stay in the Underground......you are welcomed. You would become the first human inhabitant here. We shall speak of this inside." She said now motioning to the house. "Pray tell me, why would you want to stay here though? Amongst monsters?" She offered her hand to the young girl. 

Hope hesistated before taking the Queen's hand and allowed her to tuck it into her arm as she linked hers and her own together. They vegan walking towards the house, with the other three monsters following behind. 

"Well......" Hope began before sighing. "All my life I never really fit in up there. I was never.....wanted by anyone. I don't have friends.....and my family......well, they adopted me but I don't think they ever wanted me. And I......." 

"May I see your arm?" 

Hope started at that request as she looked at Toriel with alarm. "Huh?" She asked uneasily. 

Toriel motioned to Hope's left arm at the crook of her elebow. She was still smiling warmly at her. "You're hurt, child. May I see your arm?" She asked softly. 

Hope cringed a little and did draw back a little but then looked at Stretch when he leaned forward now looking concerned. She made a face before sighing as she was released by Toriel as she pushed her long sleeve up to show them scars on her arm. 

"WHA......?!" Sans was the one to ask in alarm as he looked at the marks with wide eye sockets. 

"They used to hurt you terribly, haven't they?" Toriel asked softly as she touched her arm, now taking it carefully to look the scars over. 

Hope dipped her head down but shrugged. "It....it was my adopted father.....it was an accident. He was.....he was arguing with my mother and I.....was startled when he raised his voice......" she was saying. 

It was a lie. But how could she tell them that her father......used to cut her when she was "bad" as a punishment? 

"Hm." Toriel said before she then tilted her head curiously when something else caught her attention. She pushed the sleeve up further and Hope hissed in unease when the Queen's eyes lit up at the sight of her birthmark. "What is this?" 

"Whoa......it looks like a flame." Stretch said his eye sockets now brightening in curiousity. 

"Oh.....um.....it's a birthmark. I was born with it." Hope said uneaily. She grimaced when eyes went to look at her. "I......well....honestly, it's the reason why I was chosen to be the sacrifice. I'm.....cursed, I guess...." 

"Because you have magic, isn't that right?" Toriel asked smiling softly at her. 

Again the others looked surprised at her and even Hope as she grimaced. 

There was an unsettling pause before Hope sighed before she waved her hand away from them and a breeze picked up suddenly, disrupting flowers. A few petals were blown right into the air, now swirling in a mini tornado as Hope looked down in shame. 

"Yes....." 

"WOW!! YOU HAVE MAGIC JUST LIKE US?!" Sans asked excitedly. 

Hope dipped her head as if in shame. "I......yes.....they said I was a monster.....in human skin.......it's why they chose me. Because.....it's have control over air elements ts and even fire......." she said definitely a little terrified now. 

"Whoa.....really?" Alphys asked now slightly excited, grinning. 

Toriel smiled before she looked over at Stretch and then back at the shamed Hope. "Hope, child......we're not angry or anything. It's all right. We are surprised you have magic. A human with magic......well.....truth be told, that has not happened in a long time. There is really only reason for it. And to be sure, may I ask to see your soul?" She asked softly. 

Hope looked at her with surprise. "My....my soul?" She asked uneasily now touching her chest in alarm. 

"Yes. A human with magic is usually either a Mage or.....something else. I want to be sure of what you actually are. But only with your permission." Toriel said softly. 

Biting her lip uneasily, Hope did hesistate. She wasn't sure......if showing her soul was going to help at all. But......

Slowly, she nodded. 

Toriel nodded back and then stepped back as Stretch stepped forward, now raising his glowing orange hand. She just smiled softly as she faced Hope, who suddenly gasped as she felt something inside of her tugged on before a cartoonish heart suddenly came out from her chest. 

A cartoonish heart that looked more like a cluster of crystals in the heart shape. Like a prism of emerald green, sea foam blue and a spot of ruby red on the outside. 

However, Stretch looked surprised and Sans and Alphys looked confused. 

"Whoa!" The tall thin skeleton said in his surprise. 

Toriel just smiled and nodded. "Just as I thought. You're a True Soul." She said softly. 

"I'm a.....Wh-what is that......?" Hope asked in surprise as she looked from her soul to the Queen. 

Toriel just smiled kindly. "You are half human, half monster. You have a human parent and a monster parent." She told her gently. "I saw a little bit of your aura as you came in. Your fear of us.....it was quite strong and without you realizing it, you were showing a little of your magic. Papyrus, you did not notice it? Usually you can see it." She said now playfully scolding him. 

Stretch gave a weak grin and shrug. "Well......I kind of wasn't paying attention. Too much work to keep looking at souls all the time." He said shrugging and his younger brother huffed at him. 

"Wh-what do you mean......I'm half monster?" Hope asked in shock. 

Toriel then motioned to the house again, still smiling softly. "Let's go inside and I shall explain. Hope, you are welcomed to stay here. Human or not, True Soul or not. Come, child. A cup of tea will help you unwind from the tension." She said softly. 

And she lead the way inside the house while Stretch waved a hand and Hope's soul went back inside her. He just grinned and winked at her as he, Sans and Alphys followed the Queen. 

Hope sighed as she touched her chest, still very surprised by this. She hadn't been expecting any of this at all. 

What in the world was a True.......? 

And before she could vocalize her question as she followed after the monsters, she felt something on her ankle and she looked down blinking in surprise. 

Vines. 

There were vines wrapped around her ankle, trailing up her leg, tightening. 

And suddenly they yanked her off her feet, making her cry out in fear and the other monsters turned with a jerk in surprise. 

"Shit! It's Flowey!" Stretch growled before turning sharply to give Hope chase as she was being yanked across the courtyard by the tight vines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Sorry for the lack of an update lately. I meant to have this chapter up a week ago but because of the holidays and a death in the family, I've been kind of busy. But here is the update and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry if it's a little slow right now. Too much has been going on right now since the New Year started.


	8. Eight

Hope didn't know what was going on but she knew a threat when she felt it and it terrified her as she found herself being pulled into the garden, hearing Stretch yell out as she was yanked into the middle of the courtyard. She could only manage to squeak in alarm as she finally came to a stop in the middle of a flower patch before scrambling to find purchase to get to her feet.

However, the vines gave a jerk and she found herself on her back again before she gasped sharply when a large yellow flower suddenly was right above her with the most terrifying g face she had ever seen. 

"You!" The flower growled glaring down at her with beady red eyes. "Human! You do not belong down here! You think you're fooling everyone?! Well you don't fool me!" 

Suddenly, a pair of skeletal hands grabbed at Hope's arms and she was yanked away from the flower, who snarled and turned his glare onto the tall thin skeleton next. 

Stretch wrapped his arms around Hope, backing up with her now clutching onto his hoodie and his brother was beside her, standing guard of her. "Flowey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" He snapped now clutching onto Hope's arm, feeling her trembling violently. 

"That is a Human, you IDIOT!!" Flowey snapped back, now standing to his full height of four feet and faced off with the much taller monster. "Humans are nasty creatures! They don't belong down here! You should kill it!" 

"Flowey! That is not how we are and you know that!" Scolded Toriel as she came marching up to them with Alphys right beside her. 

"Fools! Every one of you are fools! Just like HE said you were! Did you forget what humans did to us?!" Flowey snarled as he glared directly at the Queen. 

Toriel shook her head as she placed her fists on her waist. "We cannot condemn the actions of Mages from over a thousand years ago onto one young one, Flowey! She is not them! As it is, those Mages are gone!" She said harshly. "This is an innocent girl! She has nothing to do with them! She is frightened by monsters! And while Papyrus and Sans gave tried to ease her fears, you have undone their work to make her feel more comfortable!" 

"SHE DON'T BELONG HERE, MOM!" Flowey snapped making Hope flinch at the words before looking surprised by what he had called the Queen. 

Sighing, Toriel just shook her head but continued to glowered at the golden flower. "Flowey, I know you feel indifferent about humans but this one is different from them and we will not treat her as an enemy.......!" She was saying. 

Flowey snatled, shaking his petals at her. "She isn't different! No human is different! They are all the same! Nasty, vile, cruel, liars and decievers! Just like that human who Gast......!" He was snapping. 

"Flowey, that was one human. She isn't that hum......" Toriel was saying wearily. 

"The human that killed me!! Did you forget that?!" Flowey snatled, his beady red eyes now filling with tears as he just glared. "Did you forget what that human did to me and so many other monsters?! You welcomed him too! Just like you're doing her! She isn't different and I'm gonna.prove it!" He snarled. 

Hope flinched at his words and cringed into Stretch, clutching tighter on to him. She was shaking violently, tears in her own eyes as she looked at the enraged flower monster with confusion and fear. 

"Flowey, I'm sorry that we trusted the wrong human but we cannot condemn Hope for the actions that....." Toriel said sadly as she reached for the flower. 

Snarling, Flowey slapped her hand with one of his large leaves, shaking his head. "Well, I sure can condemn them all! I know she is lying! She is one of them and I'm going to prove it!" He snarled before shooting Hope a look as she cringed tightly against Stretch, who kept an arm around her protectively. "You better watch your back, Human! Because when I get a chance, when you're away from THEM, you better believe I'm gonna be right there! I'm gonna kill you!" He snarled before whipping away from them and diving into the ground, leaving. 

Shaking terribly, Hope just clutched tightly onto Stretch, who finally turned towards her. That was one of the most terrifying experiences she had ever faced. 

"Hope, ya okay, squirt?" Stretch asked now looking her over with concern.

Hope, still shaking, looked up at him but gave a timid nod. "Ye-yes.....he.....uh, didn't hurt me.....just scared.....me......Wh-why did.......he attack....me.....I thou-thought......" she was saying as she trembled.

"Monsters do not usually attack anyone, Child." Toriel said softly as she stepped up and placed a hand onto Hope's shoulder, looking apologetic when she flinched. "Flowey......he is not fond of humans. Not since.....well, since he was killed in a different form." 

Hope looked at her with concern, seeing the sadness in her eyes. "Wh-what? He....he.....who is.....was he? He called you mother......who.....?" She was asking. 

Toriel sighed before shifting away and drawing her to follow. "Come. I can explain inside. It's a delicate story. And you are trembling terribly. Come and I'll make you some calming tea." She said now drawing Hope to go with her. 

Stretch stood there for a moment before looking back at where Flowey had vanished. He just frowned, his eyes narrowing. 

"BR-BRO.......WHY WOULD.....WHY WOULD FLOWEY ATTACK HOPE LIKE THAT?! HE'S NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE!" Sans asked from beside him. 

Stretch shook his skull as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I dunno, Blue. Maybe cuz she's human.....but....you're right. He's never attacked a human so brutally before. There must be something else he saw in Hope that just made him snap. I don't think he realizes just how she is though. She's too nice. Her soul.....it's Kindness. Her soul is green so she can't be lying like he thinks she is." He said frowning.

"We're just gonna have to watch her then." Alphys spoke up as she stood with the two skelebrothers. "For her sake and maybe ours. Flowey.....he's never got that vicious before. Sure, he's a pain in the ass but never to that extent." 

Stretch nodded as he turned towards the mansion with the two and lead the way towards it. "Flowey's just one angry monster. Wished he wasn't but he is. He's probably just fed up with how things are with him and he finally snapped one the one human that finally came down. C'mon. Let's go inside." He said before trudging towards the house with the two. 

Hope was finally sitting down at a well polished table drinking some warm tea and waiting for Toriel to finally start telling her the story.

After getting herself some and even offering some to the others, though Stretch declined but accepted a bottle of Honey, Toriel sat down. She sipped her tea before finally looking at Hope. 

"Long ago, Asgore did live here in the palace with myself and my son, Asriel. We lived very happily for ones being trapped in the Underground with the other monsters. Yes, we were trapped, imprisoned by Humans here but we never hated them." The Queen said as she smiled faintly. "Yes, we have reason to but we do not. We believe in love and kindness here. Never hate or malice.

"Well, for many years back, humans would fall in the Underground and we would guide them back to the Surface. Or they would be sent to us as sacrifice and we still did the same. We have never killed a human. Even during the war between monsters and humans. We fought only to defend but never killed like the Humans did." Toriel went on. "And for many years, it was the same thing. For a thousand years, it has been the same."

Hope gaped at her in surprise. "How old are all of you? You've lived that long?" She gasped. 

Toriel smiled but shook her head. "For some reason, time is at a stand still for our kind. Time does not exist down here for some reason. We age much differently than humans do. We believe at a certain point of time in the Underground, time resets for us. It's apart of the magic that holds us in the Underground. There are certain points of time where we live the same days over and over again. None of us remembers it but one monster." She motioned to Stretch, who Hope looked at in surprise. 

Stretch nodded. "Yeah, me. For some reason when we get hit with a reset, I'm the only one who remembers it. It started a while ago, some time after Gaster left." He told her.

Hope frowned as she heard that name. She wasn't familiar with it. "Gaster?" She asked.

Stretch grimaced as he looked back at her and rubbed the back of his skull. "Eh......he was the Royal Scientist before he left.....and mine and Blue's dad." He said quietly and even Blue dipped his skull down. 

"Oh."

"Well, either way, we are getting g off subject in a way. W.D. Gaster, the Royal Scientist and the brothers' father came out of nowhere. We had no idea who he was nor where he came from. He just....came and stayed. He made a home here for a time being." Toriel said. "As time drew on, he created the boys. Had a life here. And humans fell down here. He was very curious of why we didn't take the souls from them to escape. But we told him the same thing we told you. And he seemed....pleased by it at the same time.

"And then one day......a little boy came here. Chara. He came down as a sacrifice just as you were. He was such a strange child. Mischievous and trickster like. He loved playing pranks on people." Toriel continued and she looked at Stretch. "Weren't you friends with him, Papyrus?"

The tall and thin skeleton shrugged. "More or less. We weren't close like Asriel was with him but we played together." He said smiling faintly. 

Toriel nodded. "Well, one day, Chara grew very ill and he did pass away because we didn't have the medicine or magic that would cure what he had. Asriel was distraught of Chara's death that he absorbed his soul and took his body back to the Surface." She said. 

Hope nodded as she remembered Asgore saying this part. 

"The Humans saw Asriel with Chara's body and we're so frightened by him that they attacked him and injured him greatly. He never fought back because it wasn't our ways of doing so. He just brought Chara back and collapsed in the gardens. He had Fallen down." 

Frowning, Hope didn't understand that term. 

Stretch saw her confused look and nodded. "He basically fell into a coma due to his injuries. He didn't die right away." He told her. 

"Oh." Hope said slowly nodding. 

"Gaster did everything he could to wake Asriel back up. He did so much and tried so hard. It wasn't until another human fell down into the Underground before things changed dramatically." Toriel said now sadly. "At this time, exactly at the same time, Asriel did awaken from being Fallen. The human who had fallen.....he wasn't a very nice human. He began killing monsters." She told the young woman.

Hope sucked in a breath and covered her mouth, looking horrified. She couldn't help but feel sorry for these creatures.

"The monsters were so frightened that they hid from this human at my orders. We never fought back." Toriel said softly, her eyes full of sadness. "Quite a few monsters died that day because of my insistence that we never harmed humans or anyone. My son, Asriel included. The human had found his way into Gaster ' s lab and found Asriel and the boys."

Hope looked at Stretch and Blue who both gave meek smiles. 

"The human killed Asriel and then went after the boys. Sans was just a very tiny one at the time but his brother protected him as much as he could. And Gaster attacked the human from behind. He killed the human from behind. He took the human ' s soul and tried to convince me to doing the same with any human that fell down here. But I refused. Even for the sake of bad humans." Toriel said griefly. "Even at the cost of my son. I would not harm humans. And Gaster was not pleased." 

"Tch. That's saying it lightly. He was pissed off. Totally flipped out on you and Asgore." Stretch said making a face. 

"Asriel was killed by a human and it wasn't Gaster who fixed him to be Flowey. It was his protégé, Undyne, who is now the Royal Scientist. Flowey does remember his time as Asriel and he does not like humans because of what was done. He had been bed ridden, so I'll and was dusting." Toriel said sadly. 

"And that is why he attacked me?" Hope asked softly. "I cannot say I blame him. He died.....so horribly." 

"Eh.....there's been humans down here before you. He never attacked them out right like he did to you. We think he might have just been bottling it all up and then seeing you made him flip out." Stretch told her. "Don't worry. We'll keep ya safe." 

Hope smiled back, feeling her cheeks flush but she looked grateful. "Where is Gaster then? What happened to him?" She asked frowning again.

Stretch and Toriel shared a glance before they both shrugged. "Dunno. He got mad at Blue for breaking glass jar that had some monster soul inside it. He yelled at him and me for being pieces of worthless shit. And then he left. Haven't seen him since." 

"LANGUAGE!!" Blue grumbled out now glaring at Stretch who gave him a look for it. 

"Now you're getting on my case about my mouth?" Stretch asked impatiently. 

"YES!! BEFORE, IT WAS BECAUSE OF FLOWEY!! BUT NOW, YOU'RE JUST DOING IT BECAUSE YA THINK YA CAN, PAPPY!! SWEAR JAR!!" Blue stated now holding out his hand to his older brother, who groaned and dished out some gold from his pockets and handed it to him.

Hope looked on with amusement. "He doesn't like language?" She asked smiling. 

Stretch smiled back and shook his head as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "Nope. He hates swearing actually. Now and then he let's me get away with it but most of the time, not so much." He told her. 

"Okay, so what now? What.....what is a True Soul? What do you mean I'm half monster?" Hope asked now frowning.

"True Souls are very rare because relationships between Humans and monsters are rare. But it is possible to have.....well, relationships. Monsters are mostly made up of magic so it is possible to conjure up......erm.....parts for physical aspects of a relationships." Toriel said and she slightly blushed and Hope blushed as she stiffened in her seat. "Anyway, your mother is human, correct?" 

"Um....yes? I don't remember her because she died giving me life and my father....well, I never knew who he was. But how.....how could he be.....a monster?" Hope asked confused. 

Toriel merely frowned thoughtfully. "Did you ever know your mother's name?" She asked. "Perhaps it is possible.....she might have been one of the humans that came here before?" 

That had everyone stiffening as they tuned into what Hope was going to say next. 

Hope bit her lip and shrugged. "Um....yes. I've been told her name. Her name was Opaline." She said and stiffened when the Queen and the older Skeleton brother stiffened, now looking surprised. "Wh-what? What is it.....?" 

Stretch was suddenly on his feet, offering her his hand. "Come with me. I think I know who your dad was." He said now stiffened. 

Hope stared at him in surprise as did everyone else but she then took his hand and allowed him to tug her to her feet. "Who.....?" She asked. 

"Papyrus, who is it?" Toriel asked now serious. 

Stretch shook his head as he tugged Hope closer to him. "Once I know for sure, I will tell you. But me and Hope are gonna go see him now. Okay?" He said as he wrapped an arm around Hope's waist, making her blush and grow very still in unease. 

And with that he and Hope were gone in an orange flash. 

Blue pouted now folding his arms. "AWWW! I WANTED TO GO TOO!" He groaned and both Toriel and Alphys laughed softly and shook their heads.


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Best Used: 
> 
> Dancing with Grillby::  
> Land of the Ice Creatures - Gothic Storm  
> Night of Wonders- Gothic Storm
> 
> ((A/N: I highly suggest listening to these two songs for this chapter, one after the other. The moment I heard this music during the Christmas season, I knew this was the one for this scene. It helped me a lot to write this chapter.))

Hope gasped as she felt herself lurch with Stretch and she almost stumbled in snow as she felt her whole body just drop from the air. She didn't fall, due to his hand on her arm, holding her up. 

"Sorry. Had to take a shortcut to get here faster." Stretch spoke up. 

Hope just looked up at him with wide eyes, trying to steady herself but then she got a good look at her surroundings and it made her freeze. She saw snow everywhere. 

They were back in Snowdin.....or rather the Winter Woods. 

"Ho-ho-how......?!" Hope was asking in surprise as she looked around the snowy forest. "How are.....how did....?" 

"Oh, yeah. That's one of my magic abilities. I call them short cuts but it's kind of more like teleporting." Stretch said smiling at her as he stuffed his hands into his pockets as he looked at her. "Basically, I open up a doorway through space and time and step through it. Therefore, traveling through a wormhole, I guess, to where ever I am thinking about" 

Hope just stared at him flabbergasted before shaking her head. It hurt her head to try and understand that. She was just going to call it teleporting. "Okay. So where are we and why are we here?" She asked confused. 

Stretch shrugged before he started walking through snow and she had no choice but to follow. "We're gonna go see the monster I think might be your dad. There was only one monster that Opaline hung out with when she was here. And if I'm right, he just might be who we are looking for." He stated as he trudged through the snow. 

Hope stared at him in confusion but surprise as she followed him. "So.....my mother was....she was here?" She asked stunned. 

Stretch nodded as he glanced at her. "It was.....what.....23 years ago? Opaline came here 23 years ago, maybe it was 22 years ago. But she was here. Everyone knows who she was. She was one of the nicest humans we had ever met. She was here i think for.....two years before she left again. First time I ever met her, it was when Blue was training for the Royal Guard. He.....he mistepped and bonked his skull against a rock. I couldn't get him to stop crying, no matter how much I tried. And then, here came this human, pushing through the bushes. I think she was.....about your age now. We were just kids at the time. Baby bones. And then she showed up. I guess we might have been the first monsters she ever saw because she was so surprised. But she took look at Blue and then scooped him up. She rubbed his skull, kissed his owies and then got him giggling by the end of it." He said smiling. 

Hope couldn't help but smile too. She saw the adoration he held for her mother. She never knew anything about her mother, really. But she was finally learning. 

"So....who.....who was it? That she was mostly around? And what happened down here with her?" 

Stretch shrugged as he looked down at her, smiling softly before he pushed through some trees with her. "The only guy who doesn't really talk. He is the only one who answer anything about Opaline." He said before looking forward.

Hope looked forward again and froze. 

And her arm warmed up again. 

There was that little shack in the woods again. The big bonfire going and that fire monster was standing before it, moving his fire made hands around as if weaving a spell. 

Grillby didn't even seem to notice them as he concentrated on his fires. He just moved in an almost rhythmatic way, almost dancing with the flames. 

Hope felt as if everything had stopped ad she looked at Grillby, watching him weave his magic into the flames. She felt warm all of a sudden. Her arm tingled, pricklin as if she felt the crackling fire there on her skin.

Watching Grillby as he worked his magic, she felt as if everything around her just vanished. It felt like it was just her and him now. As if nothing else existed for a moment. She felt as if she was in a trance as she saw him moving his arms as he worked his magic, dancing with the flames in one spot. 

And she couldn't help but move forward. 

Hope stepped forward, walking forward to approach Grillby and the bonfire. Her eyes remained glued to the Fire Elemental. She felt.....as if she wanted to join him in his magic. She could almost hear music in the flames and it was beautiful to hear. 

As if sensing her now, Grillby stiffened before turning around, halting his movement to look right at her. He dropped his arms as he turned to face her. 

Hope just stared right at his face, seeing his bright yellow flame like eyes looking back at her. Like embers in the flames, they looked right back at her. She couldn't help but stared right back at them, even as he tilted his head in curiousity to her. 

"Hi." Was all Hope managed to say when she realized she had been staring. 

Grillby merely tilted his head forward in a greeting but continued to look at her curiously again. He did pause before pointing at the base of her neck. 

Hope looked down and she remembered the necklace he had given her maybe.....a few days ago. She had already lost track of how long she had been in the Underground. She touched the glass vial with his flames inside before smiling up at him. 

"Yeah, I'm wearing it. Thank you again for it. It has been working very well. I'm almost never cold, even out in the snow playing with Stret.....uh, Papyrus and Sans." She said before looking at the flames. She smiled as she felt.....connected to it. "It's.....beautiful." 

Grillby tilted his head curiously again, not quite getting what she was saying. 

Hope realized that and she motioned to the flames. "You.....you were dancing with your flames, weren't you?" She asked sheepishly. 

For a brief moment, Hope could have sworn she saw a crack form on the lower part of his face, almost like a smile. But Grillby nodded his head to confirm what she had said. 

Hope smiled back and she then unzipped her jacket, dropping to the ground, making the Fire Elemental look curious again. She just closed her eyes and spread out her arms, her hands to the fire. 

Before she began to dance.

It was like she could hear music in the fire, she felt her heart and soul urge her to just dance. She felt the yearning to dance with fire and so she did. She began to move, her arms high above her head and sweeping to the side like a ballerina. She began to twirl softly in place before she spun around the fire. She felt as if she was dancing like fire, moving slowly and crackling. 

Standing off to the side, watching, Stretch stared with wonder, his hands in his pockets but his eye sockets wide with awe as he watched Hope begin to dance so beautifully actually. 

Even Grillby was staring as if in wonder as she danced, moving like his flames. 

And then a crackle from his fire made him look and he stiffened in surprise to see that the fire was moving with her now. When she moved, it moved. It even seemed to stretch out from where it was sitting, now twirling around her, moving around her and even dancing with her. 

Hope kept her eyes shut as she began to just move, twirling and spinning in the snow. She swept to the side with a ballerina ' s arch and even spun with her foot near her standing leg. She just felt the fire within her and around her. 

Her soul thrummed inside and she could almost picture herself, literately dancing with the fire. She could herself becoming one with fire. 

That is until when she swept one hand wept to the side, she felt a warm hand take hers and she opened her eyes to see Grillby taking her hand and spinning her in one place, like a dance partner. 

She smiled and she saw him smile back as he lead her to keep on dancing, moving so beautiful with fire all around them. Dancing around them. 

Hope couldn't help but smile as she kept on dancing with him leading her like the ballet dancers she had snuck in to see at the theaters and even having him sweep her up high above his own head so she could arch her entire body like a ballet dancers arch before putting her back down so she could just spin on her tippy toes with the fire swirling around her, almost forming a dress around her waist. 

And then it ended with her forming a ballet dancers arch, one leg out behind her and her arms spread out wide at her sides. 

The dance ended with her arch and Grillby bowing to her at the waist. 

Standing up straight again, Hope smiled at Grillby and he smiled back with a crack spreading like a mouth. 

"You dance very well, dear child." Grillby spoke with a deep baritone and almost crackling voice, surprising her as he had finally said anything. His voice was very pleasant to hear, reminding her of a warm, loving home. 

Nonetheless, Hope looked surprised at him for him finally speaking before she smiled and dipped her head shyly. "Th-thank you." She said shyly. 

Grillby then motioned to his shack. "Please, would you and Papyrus like to join me for some tea? I would like to speak to you." He said again. 

Hope felt her face heat up as she was reminded of Stretch and she looked over to him to see him coming over with a smile. She felt embarrassed all of a sudden, having forgotten that he had been there and seen her dance. 

"Sure, Grillbz. We need to talk to ya anyway. Something.....something has came to our attention that I think ya might want to know about." Stretch spoke up now looking at Grillby.

"Curious." Grillby said softly before he moved towards his home with the two following after him. 

"By the way, you looked beautiful dancing like that. Not that ya don't look cute all of the time. Cuz' ya do. But that was a HOT dance." Stretch said now giving Hope a grin, making her blush bright red. "Especially with the flames dancing out of the hearth and with you." 

Hope looked at him in surprise. "Huh?" She asked in curiousity. 

Stretch motioned to the bonfire. "Other than Grillby, you were literately dancing with fire. The fire actually moved out of the pit and moved with you." He told her. 

Blinking in surprise, Hope just stared at him in surprise before looking at the bonfire. She could have sworn she saw it glow warmer and even wave at her. 

A few moments ts later, Hope and Stretch was inside Grillby's warm shack, sitting at a table as he held a teapot in his hands, warming it. 

Grillby's home was very small but very comfortable. It mostly consisted a living area conjoined with a kitchen with one room in the back but the door was closed. There were pictures on the wall of a red flame monster and a green one that Hope was sure that had been Grillby's Ex-wife and daughter. 

But there was one picture on a single night stand against a wall. It was what held Hope's attention the most. 

A picture of himself with his arms around a human. A woman with blonde hair cut short around her shoulders and amber colored eyes. She wore a yellow sundress, even for winter, snow around them but she didn't seem cold at all.

It was probably because of Grillby warming her and the necklace she wore around her neck. 

The same necklace that Hope wore now. 

"So," Grillby said softly as he poured tea for Hope and offered Stretch some honey in his own cup. "Hope, was it? You dance marvelously. Though I am curious of how you got my fire to dance with you." 

Hope shrugged half heartedly as she looked back at him. "I.....I've been able to do that for a while. Since I was a child. I don't....notice it happen when I dance. I've been told I was a witch because people have claimed that when I dance, fire and air literately dances with me. It's why I think night was chosen for being the sacrifice. Because I am suppose to be a witch or monster." She said somewhat sadly. 

A flame like hand touched her chin, making her look up at Grillby as he drew back his hand before sitting down in a wooden chair across from her. 

"You are definitely not a monster. Nor are you human, are you? A Mage, perhaps?" Grillby asked softly. 

Hope shrugged, not knowing how to say it. 

"She is Opaline ' s daughter, Grillbz." Stretch broke out suddenly and everything stopped as Grillby snapped his attention to the skeleton. Stretch just looked seriously back at him before his orange punprick eyes flicked to Hope as she looked back. "You remember Opaline. Don't you?" 

Grillby was quiet for a good moment before he dipped his head and he looked over at the picture of himself and the woman. "How could I forget?" He asked very qiietly. 

Hope looked at the picture and she felt as if the air had been sucked from her. Her eyes prickled as she realized it. "That.....that's Opaline?" She asked in growing awe. 

Stretch looked back at her with Grillby. "You've never seen her before?" He asked softly. 

Hope shook her head as she looked at the picture before looking back at the two monsters. "N-no. My adopted parents never wanted me to see pictures of her. I think.....I think even the town mayor had burned everything about her. She....was bad from what they said. My parents.....they kept telling me she was evil and that her death was a blessing." 

Grillby crackled and both Hope and Stretch turned to see the Fire Elemental had covered his lower face with a hand, now looking pained. They winced, knowing this was probably the first time he heard about the death of Opaline. 

"She....she is dead?" 

Hope felt guilt hit her and tears in her eyes to see that the Fire monster looked so pained now. "I.....I'm sorry. She.....died.....bringing me into this world." She said softly, regretfully. 

Grillby bent over just a little, looking grieved. 

Hope felt her air clutch inside of her chest and she gasped now covering her mouth with her hands. "She....you.....you loved her." She said in surprise as he heart nearly stopped. 

Grillby was still for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Yes. I did. I.....I know I shouldn't have and you've probably heard the story by now about me. But I was married at the time when Opaline came to us. I didn't mean to fall in love with her. And I did try and resist her charms and beauty. She was the one I had an affair with. We tried so hard to not fall in love. She tried. I tried. But we just.....kept floating back towards each other." 

And then he grew very still as he looked right at her. He seemed frozen as if something dawned on him. 

"How old are you?" 

Hope felt her breath catch and she shivered as it hit her too. "I'm......20. I will be 21 soon." She answered with a shuddering breath. 

Grillby sat up straight and his ember like eyes grew rounder as he mouth cracked open in an O of surprise. "20.......My dear child.....do you have a marking upon yourself of a flame?" He asked in dawning surprise. 

Hope stilled, her own eyes widening but then she slowly pushed up her long sleeve to show him her birthmark on her arm that was tingling so warmly now. 

Slowly and softly, Grillby took her arm and studied the marking with short breathes as he just stared. He slowly used one hand above the marking, gripping her gently before looking up into her eyes. 

"During......during our affair, Opaline......and I.....we....before she left, she was carrying my unborn child. I knew of it and I did want her to stay. It was.....it was the knowledge of what we had done that drove her to leave. She did not regret our affair but the fact that I.....should have not fallen in love with her. Not when I was unfaithful to my wife." He said softly before hovering his finger tips above the mark. "Before she left, I touch her with magic, to have it upon my unborn child, as protection to my child. This marking......if it glows when I touch it, it will mean you have my magical essence and you are my child." 

Hope just stared with anticipation but then she nodded shakily. She was telling him wordlessly to see if it were true. 

Grillby nodded back and he gently pressed his fingers against the birthmark. 

It began to glow like a hot coal in fire and it didn't hurt but it felt very warm.

Hope gasped softly as she used her free hand to cover her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes. She knew it to be true now. She felt as if everything just clicked in place. 

Grillby was her father. 

"Holy shit." Stretch said and Hope saw his own surprise on his skull. He was looking in between the two of them. From one to the other. 

Grillby gave a light choke of a sob before he took his hand away from the mark and suddenly had Hope pulled right into his warm chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her comfortably close. 

Hope couldn't help but feel her tears just burst out as she hugged him back, holding onto Grillby tightly. She sobbed hard into his jacket, clutching onto him. She had found her father and she never felt so happy in her life. 

"Dude," Stretch spoke up breaking through the tender moment as he smiled between them. "You're both glowing. I mean, you always glow because you're always FIRED up, Grillbz. But you, Hope, you are literately glowing." 

Hope gave a choked up laugh as she looked down at herself to see that she was glowing. She could feel it inside of her. Her magic.....her father's magic almost becoming one. 

Grillby was the first to pull away but cupped her face as he smiled at her. "You look just like your mother. You're so beautiful, my child. I am so glad to have finally found you......" he said softly. 

Hope just smiled back as she wiped her tear stained face before blinking as she saw a tear also escape from those ember eyes. "I didn't know fire could cry." She said in wonder before she grimaced painfully. That had been horrible. 

But both Stretch and Grillby laughed as the fire monster reached up and touched his cheek where the tear had evaporated. "Oh yes, dear child. Fires can cry. But few can see it." He said softly before finally pulling away and letting Hope sink back into her chair. "Now please, do tell me all about yourself. I want to know everything about you." 

Hope just smiled as she sat back and began to tell Grillby about herself, her likes and dislikes. Her life.....with her adopted parents, which didn't please Grillby at all. And why she chosen to be the sacrifice for the monsters and about how she fell into the Underground. 

Problem was, there was just one thing that she didn't tell him, or Stretch. That.. ..secret would be too painful to tell them.


	10. Ten

It had been a month now since Hope had came to the Underground and never in her life had she been so happy. 

From the moment she found her father, Grillby, she had never felt so happy before. She had her father now and she was getting to know him. And she loved him and he certainly loved her. 

During her stay with the skeleton brothers, Hope almost talked them into just moving into the Inn for now until she could figure out where to live. She couldn't keep mooching off of them, even though Stretch nor Blue seemed to mind her staying with them. She didn't know what she was going to do about living somewhere but they insisted that she stayed with them. 

That is until a week later, Grillby requested her to come live with him. 

Hope didn't know if that was a good idea because of how small his house was but when she went to visit him, she found a new place where he lived. It was the same place but he now had a bigger cabin. It been renovated and built to be larger. 

After finding out that she had been Grillby's daughter, Toriel had his shack remodeled and made bigger. 

So now, she lived with her father in her own room, enjoying being around him. She knew how to cook but Grillby taught her how to cook better than before. He was a marvelous cook and eventually, he was talked into getting a real job with Muffet. The spider monster confronted him and talked him into partnering up with her in her cafe. 

He still made fire for families around Snowdin but he found a new reason to actually work with others. And he was becoming more sociable than he had been before. Monsters, who had once frowned upon him because of his affair with Opaline, now accepted him because of Hope. 

His affair seemed to finally been forgotten by all but two. And that had been a visit that Hope wished she hadn't encountered at all. 

Hope finally got to meet her half sister, Fuku. 

It was half of the month that Hope had came to live with the monsters and she was in Hotland with Grillby, Stretch and Blue, who offered them both out to dinner at a grand hotel made by the Underground super star, Napstabot, which Hope discovered on the skelebrothers' TV one day while hanging out with them. 

Napstabot was the only entertainment that the Underground seemed to have as of now. And Hope had to admit it, but this little monster was highly entertaining and very good at what she did. 

Napstabot was a female ghost monster who eventually got an upgrade in her appearance by the Royal Scientist, Undyne; whom Hope still had yet to meet. The Royal Scientist had made a new form for Napstabot, making her a robot body of a very lovely person. 

Once looking like a very cute little pink bed sheet ghost, Napstabot now resembled a gorgeous tall and slender metallic woman with gorgeous long black and pink hair trailing down to her thin waist. She was rather curvy in form but leggy. Her metal body curved like an hour glass, a very silver form with pink and red paint onnher arms and legs and torso. She had a bright red heart painted on her chest, making her actually look like breast, even though it was just the way she was built. Her long legs were silver with bright bubblegum pink boots. 

But her eyes, pink like the rest of her. 

Hope saw her on the Underground Network and just fell in love with her music. She was very talented with a sweet but energetic voice and did seem to be very nice and friendly as she had discovered with her father and the skelebrothers as they went to the hotel, where she was doing a show. 

The moment Napstabot had spotted Hope, she squealed happily before going over to her, surprising the young woman and introduced herself to her. 

Hope was stunned by the appearance of a so called super star but was more surprised when Napstabot offered to be one of her friends. She accepted in a stunned stupor and the gorgeous robot promised her to take her shopping one day when she wasn't busy. 

Stretch and Blue had laughed the entire time because Hope, as the tall brother said, resembled a fish the entire time, looking shocked that a super star would want to be her friend. 

Hope smacked Stretch for that. 

And as the four had sat down at the restaurant, getting ready to order, Hope saw her father stiffen and cringe inn his seat so she looked to see the green fire elemental with a large devil looking monster. 

Hope realized immediately that it had to be Grillby's other daughter. Fuku. 

Fuku had seen Grillby and the look she had wore on her pretty fiery face was nothing but acid. She glared at him as she hung onto her supposedly date. She was a very pretty green fire monster, very much shaped like a girl with long green flames hanging down her back like hair and her eyes were yellow in her head. She even wore a very pretty blue dress that seemed to stop at her knees, curving in such a way to make her very pretty. 

However, the glare she was giving Grillby said enough that she did not forgive her father for his affair with another female so many years ago. 

And it only got worse when she walked over, leaving her puzzled date to just stand there. 

Flaming hands on her thin waist, Fuku glared at Grillby as he cried slightly before finding composure to standing up to greet her while Hope and the brothers looked on awkwardly. 

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Grillby. Finally decided to show your cheating face out of your snowy woods?" Fuku asked coldly for such a fire monster.

Hope stiffened, looking surprised but she saw Blue whimper and cringe closer to Stretch, who was scowling.

Grillby sighed as he looked at his older daughter. "Fuku, it is good to see you....." he was saying. 

"You know what? I'm just going to be blunt." Fuku interrupted sharply. "Monsters might have forgiven you for being a cheating bastard, but mom and I sure haven't!" 

Grillby sighed again now folding his arms. "Fuku, what happened all those years ago was a mistake but not one I regret. I did love your mother and you. I still love you, Fuku. But I did fall in love with Opaline. I did not mean to but I did. And I regret that it hurt you in the process......." he was saying. 

Fuku scoffed as she glared at him. "Oh really?! If you loved me and mom, why wouldn't you come after us after THAT human left?! Did you even try or were you too busy moping over that stupid human?! And look!" She looked directly at Hope, who cringed now afraid as that hateful look was now on her. "Look! It's the mistake that you made with that human! I see you're spending time with her and not your real daughter!" 

"Leave her alone, Fuku. She has nothing to do with this." Grillby said softly. 

Fuku growled and crackled as she returned her hateful look onto him. "Oh, she has everything to do with this, Grillby! You wouldn't be standing up for her if she wasn't that human ' s spawn! And now you're spending time with her instead of me!" She snapped. 

Hope did feel guilt for that. She knew right there that Fuku was just hurting because of the long absence of her father from her life. She knew it was jealousy that Fuku felt and it made her feel bad. 

"Join us for dinner then, flame girl." Stretch suddenly spoke up now leaning back in his chair looking as lazy ever. His words surprised all of them as eyes turned onto him. "Instead being all CRACKLING there, join us and spend with your dad and your new sister." 

Fuku crackled as she glared at the skeleton. "That THING is not my sister, you smiling trashbag!" She snapped with a stomp of her foot. 

Stretch smiled lazily, his left eye brightening just a little. "Magical essence is magical essence, Fuku. Blood is blood. And you share the same essence as Hope, here. Grillby is your dad whether your mom said so or not. And Hope is a nice girl and while this ain't my business to be sticking my non existent nose in, I ain't gonna let you talk shit about her." And with those words, he pulled his hand out of his pocket and scooted three gold coins towards Blue, who wordlessly took them for his swear jar. 

"Mind your own business, Papyrus!" Fuku snarled as she crackled loudly. 

"Nope. Not gonna when your talking shit about Hope." Stretch said as he pulled out more gold to hand over to Blue. "Your mom might have a good reason to be pissed at Grillby and ya kind of do too. But no one was stopping you from going to see him once in a while while he exiled HIMSELF for his affair with Opaline. Not even your mom was stopping you!" 

"How......?!" Fuku was growling. 

"I have it under good reliable sources that your mom said you can go see Grillby if ya wanted to." Stretch interjected sharply now leaning forward. "You're the one who decided not to. So instead of standing there, crackling like a spoiled little brat, fussing over something you could have controlled a long time ago, and putting on the blame on someone who didn't even know who her father was in the first place until a week ago, sit your coal ass down and actually get to know Hope before you decide you want to hate her for something that she couldn't control." 

And he gave more coins to Blue who was now counting the coins and obviously tuning it all out because of how unpleasant it was.

There was an unsettling silence as Fuku glared at him before she huffed and turned sharply and marched away. 

Grillby visibly deflated as he turned and sat down, now looking very tired. "I'm.....I'm sorry. I didn't know she was going to be here......" he was saying. 

"Yeah, ya did, Grillby." Stretch said now looking at him softly. But he shook his head. "Grillbz, I know ya wanted to see Fuku and ya want her to get to know Hope. But don't push it. Ya love both of them and ya wish Fuku would forgive you for what you did. And yeah, she is rightfully angry. But that is no excuse to go blowing up at Hope. Hope didn't do anything wrong and Fuku was trying to lash out at her. Not gonna happen with me around. She didn't do anything wrong and she doesn't deserve Fuku being a brat towards her." He said before looking at the trembling young woman beside him. "Ya okay?" 

Now Grillby looked at her with concern.

Hope nodded shakily as she looked at them both before looking at her father. "Ye-yes. She.....she does have a right to be angry though. And.....I.....I'm.....sor....." she was saying. 

"No." Grillby said softly before he gently took her hand and held it in his own. "No, it's not your fault, Hope. It is mine. Papyrus is right. I was trying to push it. I wanted you to at least meet Fuku and perhaps hope she would see how gentle and caring you were. And that she would want to get to know you. I am deeply sorry, my dear child." 

Hope smiled faintly at him as she held his hand, giving it a tender squeeze. "I forgive you, Grill.....Dad. I wish I could do something to help. I know you miss her and you love her and I want to help you with her. I just....I just don't know how......" 

Stretch suddenly grinned, right with Blue, who finally looked up at them. 

"I THINK I KNOW HOW TO HELP BUT IT WILL MEAN A PUSH COMES TO SHOVE." The little blue skeleton said and everyone looked surprised at him, though the older brother was just grinning. 

"What do you mean, Sans?" Grillby asked, his attention perked. 

Blue just smiled his wide grin and winked at him, even verbalizing the word. "JUST LEAVE IT ALL UP TO ME AND PAPPY, GRILLBY!! I WON'T PROMISE IT WON'T BE PLEASANT AT FIRST BUT IN THE END, I THINK FUKU AND HOPE WILL BE THE BEST OF FRIENDS!" He said grinning. 

"What......?" Hope asked suddenly feeling uneasily. 

"I think my baby bones bro is trying to say is, we're gonna have some fun with Fuku. We have some outings, invite Fuku to them and get her to spend a little time with Hope, and if she accepts the invitations, it means she is a little curious about Hope." Stretch said grinning. 

Hope shivered uneasily but did feel anxious and hopeful to that idea. She hoped this would work. If it did, it would mean two things. 

One, Grillby's relationship with Fuku could be restored. 

And two, Hope would have a sister. 

But if it didn't......well, what harm could happen? What would they lose? Not a whole lot but gain just a little more wood for the already burning of hateful fire. 

But Hope felt determined to try and fix the relationship between Grillby and her sister. She just hoped it would work. 

And the hopeful look on Grillby's face said the same as she felt. He hoped it would work.

The rest of the evening went smoothly, thankfully. The four sat down for dinner, ate and laughed at Stretch ' s puns and jokes while Blue scowled and yelled at him for his not so funny but hilarious jokes, disrupting other patrons a little. But most laughed when the tall thin skeleton kept it going just to rile his little brother up some more. 

Hope felt her anxiety of the confrontation melt away as she found herself enjoying the night with her father and the brothers. 

But as the night drew on, Hope realized something as she laughed at Stretch ' s puns. It just hit her with a single thought as she had been studying him as he riled Blue up even more. 

It was the thought of just how funny he really was. And of how.....handsome he was. 

Hope cut herself off, her face heating up brightly as she realized what she had been thinking about the skeleton beside her.

What in the world was she thinking?! 

Hope felt her face flush brightly as she watched Stretch just grinning at his yelling brother, her heart thumping hard. She hadn't realized it until now and under such a short time?! 

She barely knew him and she was.......! 

Sure Stretch was tall, thin and yet rather handsome for a skeleton. He was not bad looking at all, without skin or such. He was sweet towards her, gentle and quite the gentle skeleton. He treated her like no one had ever treated her before. He was kind and courteous towards her. 

Sure he was lazy as hell, mostly just lounging around the house unless he pried himself off the couch at his home but he always seemed to make an effort to just hang out with her. 

And she was crushing on him already after only two weeks of being in the Underground?! 

Hope felt her heart thumping in her chest as she looked Stretch over, studying him. She didn't understand it. Why was she crushing on him?! She couldn't have a crush on him! 

Sure, he had redeeming qualities she might have liked but he was a monster! He was a skeleton! She was human.......well, she was half monster apparently. 

Her eyes flicked over to Grillby as he watched Stretch harass his little brother with amusement. It hadn't stopped her father from falling in love with her human mother, after all. 

"HUH?" Blue suddenly blurted out now looking at Hope, having noticed how quiet she was being. "HEY! HOPE, ARE YOU OKAY?! YOU'RE ALL RED!!" 

Hope felt her face grow hotter as she saw Stretch ' s eye sockets turn towards her and her heart pumped faster and harder. She even saw Grillby look at her curiously and yet with concern. 

"I.....I......I......!" 

"Hey, sweetheart. Ya okay?" Stretch asked now looking concerned. 

Ba-bump! Ba-bump! 

Hope's heart pounded in her chest before she was up on her feet, her face flushed brightly. "I'll be......Illll be right back! Bathroom!" She blurted out before rushing away from the table, even though Grillby stood up, looking worried. 

Hurrying to the bathroom she had seen on the way in, Hope dashed inside and hurried to one of the sinks. She clutched at one of them, panting as she looked at herself. 

Her eyes were wide and her face bright red. She was shaking a little bit and heart was pounding. 

"I......Hope, what are you doing?! You.....you!" She scowled at herself as she pressed her palms against her cheeks now. "Are you serious?! You're crushing on him?! You can't be crushing on him! You don't even know him!" 

There was no answer, of course. 

Hope huffed now wrapping her arms around her middle and she lowered her head. "Hope.. you, idiot. You're messing up. I can't......I can't be crushing on him. It would never work out. I can't......" 

"And why not, sweetie?" 

Hope gasped, jumping as she snapped her head up to look over to see the orange clad skeleton just standing there, looking curious but concern. 

"Stretch!" Hope yelped now covering her mouth. "This is the women's bathroom! You can't be in here!" 

Stretch just looked lazily at her with a shrug. "Eh, a room is a room and you're the only one in here right now, anyhow. And ya sure aren't using one of the toilets. I was worried. Why ya run off like that?" He asked now concerned.

Ba-bump! 

Hope blushed now ducking her head shyly as she felt herself trembling. "I.....I....." she was saying. 

"And more importantly," Stretch was saying now kind of smirking at her as he stepped closer to her. "Who are ya crushing on?" 

Hope blushed furiously as she cringed, backing up. She was surprised when he followed her until her back hit the wall. She flinched and looking up at him with wide eyes. 

But Stretch stopped right in front of her, his hands still in his pockets but he was smiling warmly at her. "Why?" He suddenly asked softly. 

Hope blinked at him in confusion. 

"Why are ya crushing on me? I ain't anything special. I'm a lazy thin ass. I'm good looking but I ain't that good looking." Stretch said softly. 

Hope sucked in air but she she felt her face heat up more. Her heart was going wild now. "I.......I....." she stammered. 

Stretch bent down a little until his face was only inches from hers. "How about we go somewhere else that no one can just walk in on our convo, sweetheart?" He asked in a low voice that just sent shivers through Hope. 

But Hope found herself nod shakily. 

Stretch smiled softly at her before he reached out and took her by the waist, drawing her close to himself. 

And then with an orange flash, Hope gasped as she found herself in a dark cavern, surrounded by beautiful purple flowers with twinkling crystals all around her and Stretch. 

Hope looked around with wide eyes. She had never seen this place before but it sure was beautiful. It was gorgeous, actually. The crystals twinkled all around her like stars and the purple flowers glowed. 

"Wh-where are are we......?" Hope asked breathlessly. 

Stretch smiled as he stepped back from her and looked around. "This is my favorite place in the entire Underground. It's called the Wishing Room. Monsters come here when they want to make wishes from their souls." He then motioned to the beautiful purple flowers. "See those flowers? They're called the Echo Dream flowers. This is what you do." 

The tall skeleton walked over to one and bent down beside it, pressing his teeth into the petals before stepping back. 

"Now, come here." 

Hope shivered but did as she was told. She went over and stood beside Stretch, who smiled at her. She just stared at him. 

"Now touch the stem." Was all he said. 

Hope was now very curious so she bent down and gently touched the purple green stem of the gorgeous glowing flower. And she gasped when she heard a whisper echo from it. 

".......I want to kiss Hope......." Stretch ' s voice whispered from the flower. 

Hope gasped softly as she looked right at Stretch, who was now just inches from her, his hands coming up and cupping her face gently. He leaned closer, her heart beat faster as she stared up at him with wide eyes. 

"But if only you want me to." Stretch said softly as he stopped inches from her face. 

Hope was breathing rapidly now, her heart pounding. She wanted him to. She wanted him to kiss her. She knew it right there that she wanted him to kiss her. And it scared her. 

".......I don't want to hurt him......." Hope's voice whispered from the flower next and both of them looked down at it with surprise. 

Hope felt as if her heart had stopped. 

Did the flower seriously......?! 

Did it seriously pick up her hidden wish just by touching the stem?!

Stretch looked back at her with soul piercing eyes in his sockets before he smiled softly. "You.....you won't." He said softly before he closed the gap between himself and her. 

Hope gasped as she felt his teeth against her lips and she immediately melted against him as she found her arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer to herself. His arms circled around her waist as he pulled her closer, pressing her against him. 

The kiss felt sweet between Hope and Stretch and she felt something warm and wet touch her lips as he opened his mouth. She realized her wanted to deepen the kiss.

This was a bad idea but Hope allowed it because she yearned for him to. She allowed him access and she felt his tongue touch hers. He tasted of sweet honey and oranges, which was an odd mix but she couldn't find herself to care. 

Their kiss deepened before it was Stretch who pulled away first, his skull resting against hers as he smiled down at her warmly. 

"Will you go out with me?" 

Hope couldn't help but smile as she rest her head against his. She nodded. She did want to. 

Holding her close, Stretch rest his skull on top of hers, sighing in content. "I liked ya from the moment I saw ya, Hope. But i think it was when I saw ya dance in front of the fire that made me realize just how much I liked ya." He said softly. 

Hope rested her head against his sternum but frowned softly, sadly. She didn't know when she started liking him but she knew she did. And that's what stung her the most. 

She didn't want to hurt him. 

".......I don't want to hurt him......" her voice echoed from the flower again and it made her sadder. She really did not want to hurt Stretch.


	11. Eleven

The plan was simple. 

The invitation was sent out to Hotland, to Fuku and now they had to wait to see if she would accept it or not.

It was all up to her now to accept the invitation or decline. She would have to choose if she really wanted to be a part of Grillby's life or not. But that would mean, she had to give Hope a chance. 

They had decided to have some snow fun. Making snowmen and having contests, which Hope laughed at Stretch ' s attempt because all it was was a snow p off with his name on it. That had Blue going at him for his laziness of it. 

They also decided to do a little bit of ice skating on the pond, which had Hope nervous at first until Stret h convinced her to ice skate with him. 

She was sure she was blushing his arm around her to keep her from slipping and falling on her butt. His excuse was that he didn't want her to fall and while that was true, she knew he just wanted to be touching her and it warmed her in more ways than he realized. 

In the mean time, he was asking her questions about herself so he could get to know her more. And she asked him. 

"Your favorite color?" He had asked. 

"Um......I think amber is my favorite color. Yellowish orange. The color of the sunrise. Yours?" Hope asked as she skated with him, holding onto him for support. 

Stretch smiled at her and shrugged. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked motioning to his orange hoodie. "I like orange. I know a lot of people don't care for the color and all but.....when I look at orange its....."

Hope smiled up at him. "It's warm." She smiled softly when he looked surprised at her. "Orange is.....warm. Feels like home. It's peaceful. Might be kind of loud some times but it feels comfortable. Like a fire in a fireplace on cold winter's night. Honey on hot scones. It's like Autumn. The colors of the leaves as they change with the seasons. Right?" She asked shyly. 

The skeleton smiled and nodded. "Exactly." He paused. "So..... was.....before you came down to us, was there.....anybody.....in your life?"

Hope stiffened as she looked up at him and he grimaced apologetically and looked like he was going to change his question. She knew why he was asking and while it made her uncomfortable to talk about, she knew was better to just say it before things might fall apart. 

"Ye-yes." 

Stretch looked down at her with surprise. He had secretly hoped that wouldn't have been the answer he was dreading to hear. 

Hope sighed as she slowed her skating to a stop and faced him. "Yes. There was some guy.......but....I didn't like him. I don't even think he liked me. But.....we were.....pushed to be together." She said very uneasily. 

Stretch stared at her but kept her hand in his. "Why were you together if you didn't like each other?" He asked frowning. 

Hope dipped her eyes but shook her head. She took a deep breath. She couldn't keep a shiver of fear from seeking out.. "It was.....an arrangement my parents made with him. He was looking for a wife. I was chosen to be it. We went on a few dates but he spent more time telling me what I was going to do as his wife. And that was just.....just taking care of our children when we wed. He said I was to do only that, keep the house and take care of the children that would come." She said softly but then shook her head. "And when I was chosen to be the sacrifice......well, he didn't say anything but looked for another wife to be."

Stretch growled softly. "Did he ever......hurt you or anything. Cause ya kind of look scared talking about him." He said as he looked her right in the eyes. 

Hope let out a trembling sigh but slowly nodded. "He never.....forced me to do anything I didn't want. He spent more time ignoring me or telling me to do something for him. Chores and all. And.....I....." she shivered as she dropped her eyes as if pained. "He did hit me once when I told him that he should try and make an effort to impress me into being my husband." She said paunfully. 

Stretch growled at the sound of that and his eyes did flash orange in anger. "What about your dream? You wanted to be a dancer, right?" He asked frowning. 

Smiling sadly but shook her head. "House wives don't dance. They only keep house, carry the off spring and warm the husband's bed." She told him. 

"Tch. Is that what they say up there? They treat human women like that up on the Surface?" Stretch asked definitely disgusted. 

Hope made a pained face but slowly nodded as she just looked down. "That's how it is on the Surface. It's kind of why I don't want to go back. To that life. Honestly.....it's not great up there. It sucks, actually. People are not very nice to each other. My parents......they didn't even want me but we're paid to take care of me. My husband to be......he was a jerk. An arrogant, emotionless, controlling jerk. None of them fought for me. They sent me down here to die." She said sadly, tears in her eyes. 

Stretch just looked at her softly before he placed his hand softly on her cheek, Maki g her look up at him with tears eyes. He smiled at her gently as he brushed his knuckles against her cheek, his other hand pulling her closer to him. 

"It's a good thing you're here then. With me. And your dad. Blueberry and all of the other monsters, huh?" 

Slowly, Hope smiled and reached up, covering his hand with her own. "Thank you. And ye-yes. I suppose it is a good thing to be here." She said blushing. 

Just smiling at her, Stretch dropped his hand again and took hers, holding it as they started skating again. "So what was the asshole ' s name? Just wondering." Stretch said though in truth, he'd like to know for if one day if the barrier was broken, he was going to hunt the bastard down. 

"Str-Stretch......" Hope murmured now very uneasy as she looked at him with pain and worry. 

"Ah, come on. It's not like I'll ever meet the guy. We're stuck down here. And we probably won't ever get out." Stretch said giving her a crooked smile. 

Hope winced but lowered her head. She saw his point at some reason. But......"It was.....um.....his name.....his name was G." She said very quietly, looking quite terrified of the name. 

"G?" Stretch asked making a face at her but smiling nonetheless. "His name was actually G? As in just a letter? What kind of name is that?" 

Hope just spared him an uneasy smile and a shrug. She didn't know what to say about that at all. All she knew the owner of it was not very nice.

But before any of them could keep on with the conversation, they spotted a flash of green light and they both looked towards the snowy banks of the icy pond and saw that Fuku had actually arrived. She had actually came, dressed in a creme winter coat, looking like she didn't even want to be there.

Hope saw Stretch smirk as he looked at the Fire Elemental talk and even saw Blue and Grillby making their way over towards her. 

"She's interested in you, Hope. Knew it. I knew she was curious about you. Come on. Let's go talk to your sister." The tall skeleton said slyly.

Hope let him pull her towards the banks with the others, her eyes shyly meeting the hardened ones of Fuku, who hmphed loudly and folded her arms. She definitely didn't look like she wanted to be there at all. 

"Hello, Fuku." Grillby said softly as he stood before his older daughter. "Thank you for coming. We have a lot of fun planned. And some catching up to do." 

"Don't get too excited, Grillby." Fuku said coldly as she turned her urning yellow eyes onto him. "I'm only here because mom convinced me to come." 

There was a surprising pause as they stared. 

"She did?"Grillby asked quite surprised. 

Fuku nodded sourly as she glowered at him. "Yeah." She said grumpy before looking right at Hope, who shied away a little at her look. "Seems to me she is finally admitting it that she is curious about the human, just like everyone else. She would be here if it wasn't for you." She shot her father a look. "Okay, so let's get this over with. What are we doing?" 

"Okay for starters, We're going to......" Stretch started. 

And the day went on. 

They had started with a snow man building contest with partners of two in the groups. It would be Hope with Fuku and Blue with Grillby with Stretch as the judge, though he technically fell asleep during it. 

Fuku had not been happy that she was being partnered up with Hope and did complain but after being botched at by Stretch, and just going along with it to shut him up, the girls worked together. 

But that didn't mean they were happy about it. 

Hope did try and ask Fuku questions about herself but she was ignored most of the time. She didn't try and push it though. She knew fairly well that Fuku didnt like her but she wished that she would just try.

After the snowman contest, and Blue yelling at Stretch for falling asleep, they skated some more on the pond. Fuku didn't want to. She just sat off to the side and with urging from Stretch, Hope did too. 

"So......Wh-what do you like to do......?" Hope tried once again to get to know. 

Fuku sighed in aggravation before turning towards her with a sour look. "Look, I don't care about talking to you or getting to know you. So stop trying." She growled. 

Hope deflated beside her, looking down sadly. "I'm sorry. It's just.....I've just......I've never had a sister before or any.....friends until now. I've always been.....alone until now." She said softly. 

Fuku now looked at her with narrowed eyes but the surprise was clear. "What do you mean?" She asked frowning. "Aren't you a human?" 

"Well.....not exactly. With Grillby being my dad too, I didn't know I was half monster. I've always been treated.....like an outcast. No one liked me when I was on the surface. No one. Not even my adopted parents." Hope said softly. 

"Why? Why didn't they care about you?" Fuku asked now sitting straight. 

Hope shrugged. "Probably because of my abilities." She waved a hand and a small whirlwind of snow formed in front of her. "I.....I've been able to manipulate air for a good while. As long as I can remember and I guess fire. I've always been seen as a freak. It's why I was chosen to die down here. They didn't want me. Never did."

Fuku frowned as she looked down for a good moment before she looked back at her, now drawing one of her slender legs close to her chest, hugging it close. "Did....did they ever hurt you?" She asked quietly. 

Hope flinched at the question before exhaling a shaky breath and pulled her sleeves up to reveal her scars she had on her arms. ".......I did only this one to myself." She said touching one thin scar on her forearm. "Self harm. But the others.....they were.....punishments. My adopted father......he would cut me......if I was bad." She said very quietly. 

There was a low growl and it surprised Hope look up in surprise to see that it was Fuku who was growling. She hadn't expected that. 

".....I'm sorry. I guess......you've had it rough, haven't you?" Fuku said quietly now softening just a little. 

Hope shrugged as she kept her eyes down cast again. "Sometimes I wondered if I deserved it. If I still deserve it......" she cut herself off sadly.

Fuku made a face before straightening her legs back out. "Jeez, you don't need me berating you, do you? You already do that to yourself. Okay, knock it off. Now I can see I was definitely wrong. No wonder you're here. You need to be, don't you?" She asked before shoving herself up to her feet and offered Hope her hand. "Okay, here's the deal. I'll get off your back and try to be nice. But you don't put yourself down any more. Deal?" 

Hope stared up at her in surprise for a moment before smiling faintly as she reached out and took Fuku ' s hand, letting her pull her up. "Okay." She said smiling. 

Fuku smiled back stepping backwards and folding her arms. "Okay. So let's see what you can do!" She said now brightly. 

"Hmm?" Hope asked now confused. 

"Your magic! I want to see what you can do." Fuku said now motioning to an empty space. "Show me!" 

Hope grimaced but shook her head sheepishly as she now rubbed her arm. "I just.....I don't know how. I just can manipulate fire and air. But I don't know how it works." She said softly. 

Fuku hmphed again before shrugging. "Okay, that's a general piece of magic. Your basics. But I'm sure you can do more than just manipulation. Most magic is either defensive or offensive. It can be both. Obviouslu, you don't know which one your magic does. So let's find out. How does your magic react? Have you ever used it to defend yourself?" She asked as she faced her.

Hope shrugged, shaking her head. "N-not really. Whenever i started showing my magic, I was punished." She said weakly.

Fuku tsked in obvious irritation. 

"Hey, what're ya doing over here?" 

Both girls looked over at Stret h as he approached them with Blue and Grillby, who was looking relieved that they were even talking to each other and obviously smiling. 

Fuku shrugged as she motioned to Hope. "She doesn't know what her magic does. So I'm going to help her figure it out." She said bluntly.

The three blinked before they brightened. 

"HEY!! GREAT IDEA!! LET US HELP TOO!" Blue said brightly with a big grin. 

"It will definitely be a good idea to get an idea what her primary magic is. A good bonding moment comes out of it." Stretch said nodding as he smiled at Hope,who smiled faintly back. 

Fuku nodded before looking at Grillby, smiling faintly. She stepped towards him, now offering him a hug. And everyone smiled when he brightened and swept her up into his arms. "I'm still mad at you." She added, hugging him. 

"I know. And I'm sorry. I truly am. It's just....." Grillby was saying as he held his older daughter tightly. 

Fuku pulled back and nodded, smiling faintly. "I know. Opaline......wasn't bad. She was really nice and pretty and she did have a blue soul. Patience and Integrity. I guess......it just was hard to accept it. But.....I'll accept Hope now. It's just going to take some time." She smiled at the other girl, who smiled faintly back. "And she is all right. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have a sister around." 

Grillby then offered his other arm to Hope, as did Fuku and Hope brightened as she hurried forward and stepped into their embrace. It felt nice, honestly. 

"Okay, so let's teach Hope some magic." Stretch said now grinning. And everyone agreed. 

All though in the bushes, Flowey glared at them. He had been watching, waiting for the opportunity to corner the human. He didn't trust her. And he was going to prove having a human, half monster or not, was not good to be in the Underground. 

When they weren't looking, he planned to strike.


	12. Twelve

The lessons on magic began exactly that day and they went on for the upcoming week. It proved to be quite difficult for Hope to learn, making it rather frustrating but she tried. 

The monsters tried and were rather patient with her. They knew it wouldn't come easy for her to learn her magic abilities. 

But they all worked together. 

Hope learned about their magical abilities and did find each of them very facinating. She learned about how confrontations worked in magic. She learned about what they called soul bullets and how they took different shapes and forms and how they were used. 

For the skeleton brothers, their 'bullets' were their bones. They came in many different sizes but they were still bones. And while both of them did have a special Blue attack, which Hope learned that it basically used gravity against her if it was used it on her. 

Mostly it was harmless. It just made it harder for her to move around. She could still move but her movements were slowed, which would leave her open to attacks unless she could use her own magic to defend herself or attack back. 

They did a little practice with that and she did find some enjoyment in working with it. 

Grillby's 'bullets' were fire balls. They were offensive, as she was told and could burn her if he had wanted to. He had been uneasy at first about letting her practice with it but she insisted that she wanted to.

Fuku ' s was the same but instead of the fire being in balls, it came in waves. She learned how to dodge those when they practiced together. 

Still, her own magic made it very difficult to work with. She still didn't know what it did or how to use it. It was very frustrating for her when she tried to use her magic like the monsters did. 

It just didn't seem to want to come out at all. No matter what she did. She was good at dodging now but using her magic in defense or offense......nothing. 

It was very dishearting. 

And then......Stretch came up with an idea. 

"Dance." Stretch said as he faced Hope with the others, who all looked surprised at him. 

"Huh?" Hope asked frowning in confusion. 

The tall skeleton shrugged with a curious smile. "When we are using our magic on you, dance." He told her.

Hope frowned as she took it all in and it left her very confused. She didn't know how dancing was going to help her with her magic. "Stretch, I don't......don't understand." She said rubbing her elbow. 

Stretch just smiled as he nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Just dance, Hope. Dance for us. Right now. Let's see.....if your magic has any connection to your dancing." He told her and when she hesistated, he used one hand to wave at her. "Come on, just dance." He said patiently. 

Huffing, Hope stepped back and relaxed herself. She didn't understand how this was going to help at all but she figured it was worth a try. She didn't see any harm in doing it either way. 

Taking a deep breath, listening to what little noise she heard, she slowly began to move. She started with swaying side to side, almost like air brushing against reeds and blades of grass. She imitated what it would be like to be the wind. To be a blade of grass being caressed by the wind's touch and even as if a tree. 

Nothing else now existed but her dance. 

She just danced, letting her body to take full control. She found herself in her very own trance as she began to move, dancing and imagining herself like the wind, caressing trees and even twirled like leaves in the air. She was in her own element. Her own world as she danced. 

And as if she felt a sudden change in the air, she snapped into a more heated dance, as if she was fire now. She began to dance rapidly, twirling like flames and even growing like a wild fire. She danced with such fire in her heart and even felt as if she was wind and fire, mixing together. She could almost even feel as if something was attacking her fire and she moved to defend herself in her dance. 

Again, something changed. 

A fire that wasn't her own in her dance, she began to twirl, feeling a cool breeze of air and.....water. She felt it. She felt herself as if she was water now and couldn't explain why she could. But she felt as if she was water, dousing an out of control wild fire and she moved with ripples around her mind. 

She twirled and could almost imagine herself on the surface of a pond, dancing with water twirling around her in beautiful rhythm. 

Hope felt it in her heart and soul ashe leapt into the air, twirling before coming down hard in a crouch and banging a fist against the ground, feeling herself become Earth. 

And there was a loud crack and rumble right under her feet as she stayed in a crouch and it startled her to snapping her eyes open. 

And stare with shock and alarm at what she saw around her. 

Hope was still in a crouch but with a small crater. Snow had melted into water, the cavern ground disrupted and pushed upward as if broken by an earthquake. Smoke in the air, twirling as if a fire and just barely been put out. 

And four monsters gaping at her with shock. 

Though it could have been comical to see Blue on top of Stretch ' s head, clutching on to his, his eye sockets wide but with awed bright yellow stars in them. 

All four monsters, the two skeletons and the Fire Elements looked awed but also shocked by what they had seen. 

Hope gasped softly as she withdrew her fist from the ground and she covered her mouth, looking around with wide eyes. She was definitely confused with what she had missed out while dancing. She hadn't even realized what had been happening and it confused her. 

"Wh-what.....?! What happened?!" Hope asked now looking at them with wide eyes. 

Stretch slowly grinned as he grabbed Blue and pried him off, who suddenly giggled madly and dashed over to her with Fuku right next to her. "Wow. All I got to say is wow." He said shaking his head. 

"What?" Hope asked as she looked around with alarm. 

Grillby smiled as he approached her and nodded. "Your magic is tied to your dancing, my child. When you dance, you are in your element." He said softly and proudly. "You're an Elemental Dancer." 

Hope frowned at him before looking at Stretch, who nodded. 

"The way you dance.......you're controlling an element. Say like dancing like fire.....you use fire magic. If you dance like air, air magic. You can manipulate Elements, Hope. All through your dancing. Air, Earth, Fire and Water." Stretch told her nodding. 

Hope stared bewildered. "Wa-water and Earth.....?! But I thought......I don't understand!" She said in alarm. 

Stretch just raised his hands and gestured her to calm down. "Imagine yourself like snow. Dance again but keep your eyes open. Dance like snow flakes in the air." He told her. 

Hope frowned but took a deep breath begore she began swaying gently, her eyes open this time. She began sway and twirl as if a snowflake tumbling through the air. 

And a whirlwind of snow picked up all around her, snowflakes now raising all around her.

Startled, Hope gasped and stumbled back, waving a hand that sent the snowflakes flying the air at the monsters by mistake. She gasped when she them harden into ice pellets. 

Thankfully, all four; Stretch, Blue, Fuku and Grillby moved out of the way before being hit by the ice. 

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Hope gasped covering her mouth with horror. 

But the four laughed, shaking their heads. They didn't look angry at all. Just amused. 

"It's fine, Hope. It's okay." Stretch reassured. "At the most part, you turn elements, like snow, into 'bullets' and use it as an attack. It's still kind of weak so it would just take us down by two HP points." 

"YEAH, BUT YOU SHOULDN'T GET HIT, PAPPY!" Blue said chuckling. 

Hope looked curiously at them by that but Stretch shrugged. "It's a good thing I have my teleportation and I'm fast, huh?" He said chuckling before looking at her. "I have only two HP. One hit to my HP can dust me, depending how much ya want to hurt me." 

"But.....but I don't hurt anyone." Hope said weakly. 

Stretch smiled softly and nodded. "Which you won't. Depending on the intent to harm, it can take down HP. But if you have no intentions to harm, it won't hurt at all. It all depends on intent when it comes to magic attacks. The thing with you controlling the snow, snow is water and air together. That's how you can control it. You can manipulate the four basic elements, Hope. That's actually really impressive." He told her. 

And the other three nodded in agreement. 

Hope just blinked. "And Earth? How did I......?" She was saying. 

"By defending yourself, you can use air and Earth. Your primary magic seems to be the air element. You use Air with everything else. Air to move fire, water and earth. You could make an earth shield to defend." Stretch said and summoned a small bone to toss at her. 

Throwing up her arm to defend herself from it, Hope was startled when the ground rumbled and shot up right in front of her, forming a shield of some kind. The bone bounced harmlessly off of it. 

Still, it amazed her. 

"Wow. And it's.....it's mostly tied to my dancing?" Hope asked amazed. 

Grillby nodded with a smile as he went over to hug her. "You love to dance. It's apart of your soul. By dancing, you can use your magic. And your magic is Elements. With some work with it, you will be able to control them willingly." He told her with his arm around her shoulders. 

Hope smiled, feeling pride in herself now. She was figuring it all out now. She had magic and she could use it to defend herself and those she cared about. 

She was definitely looking forward to working more with it. 

"Well, I say we should celebrate your success. Can I take ya out to dinner tonight?" Stretch said now smiling. 

It was Grillby who gave him a blank look now. "Are you asking my daughter out, Papyrus?" He asked blankly and all three; Fuku, Blue and Hope laughed. 

Stretch just grinned with a lazy shrug. "Kind of already did, Grillbz. And she said yes." He told him. 

Grillby crackled grumpily before huffing and looking at the smile on Hope's face as she looked at Stretch. "Okay. If you would like to go out with him, I won't argue, Hope. But," he shot Stretch a look, who raised his hands now wincing. "Papyrus, you are lucky I like you. Because if you hurt her, though I know you won't, you're going to get burned. Into Dust." He growled. 

Stretch grimaced and stepped back with his hands raised and Hope smacked her father's arm. 

"Stop it." Hope actually growled at him, which made everyone else laugh as they watched. It was amusing but they knew that Stretch would never hurt Hope in any way. 

For the rest of the day, they practiced with Hope's magic and helped her get better with it. 

After, Stretch took Hope on a date to Muffet's and then on a walk through Waterfall, which was very nice. They walked and talked, hand in hand and kissed a little bit, if not alot. 

It was honestly one of the best experiences that Hope had ever had. She knew she was getting closer to Stretch. She was really starting to like him. She could feel her heart just opening up to him.

Now if only it could last. 

However, Hope almost forgot one thing. And that one little thing would ruin everything she had gained in the Underground. And the secret she tried so hard to hide would come out. 

All because of a new human that fell into the Underground in the next week.

He was going to ruin everything for her.


	13. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little but of fluff and almost smut ahead

The next several days were a bliss for Hope. She was more happier than she ever was in her life. She had come to the Underground to die, but instead gained a family, love and friendship. 

She worked on her magic with her monsters and did get better at controlling it. She went on dates with Stretch and became closer to him. 

She hung out with Blue and she felt like he was already a brother to her. She finally met the Royal Scientist, Undyne, who had a habit of locking herself up in her lab, hiding away from others because she had massive social anxiety. 

Undyne was quite a lovely fish monster with sapphire blue skin and Ruby red hair and she was tall. Not as tall as Stretch but pretty close. She had been very shy at first when she met Hope but slowly with some encouragement from Hope, she opened up to her. 

She was very nice and did seem to have a little bit of a temper because she got mad at Stretch for cracking some of his puns and bad jokes. 

It had been funny when she chased him around with a glowing aqua spear for cracking a fish joke at her. Hope had never laughed so hard in her life when she saw that. It had been quite a sight for her to see. 

There had been a few times when she was sent back into unease because she had begun to notice a certain golden flower when out and about. She knew Flowey was watching her and waiting for an opportunity to attack her. She wasn't the only one who noticed. 

Stretch had noticed him too and would be growling at him from the distance. He was daring the flower to try anything against them.

Thankfully, Flowey seemed to get the message and just kept his distance. He watched only from afar and that was enough for them to leave him alone. He could watch all he wanted. But if he ever tried to get close to hurt Hope, Stretch would dunk him.

Nonetheless, they found they had no problems, whatsoever. 

Hope and Stretch were growing very comfortable with each other, enough that mere kissing wasn't just enough for them. They began exploring with one another during making out that lead to mere touching that would heat up each other. 

Hope was comfortable enough with him now touching her on a more intimate level and it left desiring more from him. She would never guessed that she would ever be in a situation like she was in now while they were making out on the couch. 

Blue was not home, but on one of his patrols and she laid on the couch, right on top of Stretch, his hands roaming a little while she nibbled gently on his vertibrae. She moaned softly when she felt him nibble her neck right back as her own hands slowly pushed under his hoodie and touched his bare ribs. 

Stretch groaned now reaching up to capture her hand in his stilling her further touch.

Hope stopped and looked down at him, looking curious. "Wh-what's wrong?" She asked through heated breath. 

Stretch had his eye sockets closed as he hissed softly before looking up at her with such a gaze that made a heat shoot through her. "If you keep doing that, you're going to cross a line that we can't go back from. I'm just warning you now. Are you sure you want to cross that line?" He asked with a slight growl that made something hot inside of Hope's stomach curl. 

Hope was no fool. She knew what he meant. And she had no idea if she wanted to cross that line. But.....maybe she did. She found herself growing so attached to him that she wanted more. 

She was no innocent when it came to such a heated subject as intimate physical touching. She had....she had never been there herself but she had seen it. She had heard it. 

There were times, embarrassingly enough, she could hear her adopted parents going at it in the middle of the night and had snuck into their room once to see what they had been doing, because if a child heard curious noises like that, they wanted to know what was making it. 

She had gotten a beating for snooping. 

But nonetheless, she knew what sex was. She had....she had come very close once to losing her innocence when she was younger and not by her choice. 

Hope paused before sighing and pushing herself up to sitting beside Stretch, who frowned slightly disappointed that she hadn't answered him. But he knew if she wasn't comfortable with that step, he wouldn't push her. No matter how much he wanted to. 

"Stretch......there's something.....there's something I have to tell you." Hope said in a quiet voice and it had him sitting up, now looking concerned. "I've.....I've never done....it before." 

"Oh." Stretch said in realization as he leaned back in the arm. "Well...um.....do you wanna stop then.....?" 

Hope shook her head as she looked at him with the heat spreading again as she looked at him. "No. I.....I want to......you.....believe me, I want to be with you......but....I think....." she sighed now looking ashamed. "I was molested as a young teenager." She just blurted out before she could change her mind.

Stretch ' s eye sockets lit up bright orange and he growled, now sweeping his legs around her and setting his feet on the floor. He immediately touched her back, making her look back at him with tears in her eyes. 

"What?!" He growled. "Someone hurt you?" 

Hope shook her head as she looked at him with watery eyes. "I.....uh.....I wandered somewhere I shouldn't have gone.....just because I was curious. My adopted father.....he went to bars alot. He would get drunk a lot." 

"Was it him?" Stretch growled as he put a comforting arm around her. 

Hope shook her head. "No. He...uh....beat the shit out of the guy who did do it to me though. He was mad at me for following him to the bar. But....I was out in the alley, looking in at what was going on inside and a guy stumbled out. He had been drunk and he saw me." She exhaled a shaky breath. "He.....he grabbed me and started touching me. He said that I was pretty and he....kept touching me. Even when I begged him to stop." 

"You don't have to tell me....." Stretch said now with concern. 

Again, Hope shook her head as she sniffed and looked up at him. "I.....I don't mind. It was a long time ago. And it doesn't bother me any more. My mom made me visit a therapist for it." She paused before looking down. "Well, I'm not going to go into details but the man had my pants off by the time my dad stepped out for some fresh air and he had... .he had been touching me down there...." her eyes flickered down at her own waist. "My adopted father took one look at me as I had been crying and then he snapped. He nearly killed that guy. He kept yelling at him saying I wasn't for him. I didn't understand it until......until G came along." 

Stretch growled at the very name but then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, kissing her head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that, Hope. We can stop......" 

"No." Hope said now pulling back to look at him. "I....I want you......to... I want you." She said now her breathing picking up as she felt the heat spreading again. "Just.....just be gentle.....please......" 

Stretch growled before he swooped in and captured her mouth with his jaw, kissing her gently but it still sent electricity right through her. His hands now grabbed her by the waist and he lift her up to straddle his lap. 

Hope gasped softly as he began roaming his hands, now pushing them up her shirt to touch her back. She leaned her head back as he nipped at her neck, feeling the pleasant tingles that went straight down to her nether regions.

Stretch nipped and liked her neck before moving one hand to her front and cupped one of her breasts, now kneading it. 

"Uh.....!" Hope moaned softly before she felt herself starting to rock her hips against, causing friction between them. She heard him hiss and his own hips began rubbing back that just made her flood immediately with pleasure. 

"Let's....let's go upstairs. To my room." Stretch groaned as he pulled his hands out front her shirt and she nodded, standing up. 

Hand in hand, they started up the stairs, towards his room. 

But then he halted, making her collide with him, and she yelped. 

Hope looked up at him with a frown before stilling when she saw the surprised look on his face. He looked serious yet surprised as he turned from his doorway and looked straight at the front door. The look on his face was unsettling. 

"St-Stretch?" Hope asked now with concern. 

Stretch merely tilted his head towards her but didn't look away from the door. "Something ' s wrong." He said quietly and it made her still. "You don't feel that?" 

For a moment, Hope just stared at him before looking at the door, herself. She just listened, wondering what it could be......

There. 

Hope felt it now. 

There was an uneasy feeling in the air now. She could feel a pressure in the air that sent uncomfortable feeling through her. Something was wrong and she felt it. 

Immediately, Stretch let go of her hand and vanished from her side. He teleported down to the door and opened it, looking out. He stared before hissing and looking quickly back in at her. "Hope! Stay here! There's screaming going out here! I think a monster is fighting with something!" He said quickly that made fear shoot right up through her. 

But before she could say anything, Stretch was out the door, slamming it shut and leaving her feeling uneasy. 

Hope wrapped her arms around herself before hurrying down the stairs to the window. She could see monsters running out on the street and it made her wonder what was going on. 

"Howdy!" 

Hope jumped with a yelp and spun around when she heard that all too familiar voice. She gasped softly, now looking at the glaring golden flower that was sticking up out of the sink. "Fl-Flowey!" She gasped now terrified as she slammed herself against the wall. 

Flowey glared at her with hate, his petals ruffled and he.....he had tears in his beady eyes. He was crying. He was actually crying. 

"You.....!" The flower snarled at her his leaves puffing up and vines starting to wave threatening at her. "This is your fault!"

Hope flinched at his words and cringed back in shock. "What?! What did I do?! What's going on?!" She asked with a trembling voice. 

Flowey growled at her. "Oh, don't act like you don't know, Hope! You know exactly what I'm talking about! You're a Mage!" He snapped and snarled when she looked shocked at his words but the guilt was there. In her eyes as she looked back at him with a pained look. "You are, aren't you?! That guy was right! You're one of THEM!!" 

"Wh-what guy, Flowey?!" Hope asked now growing stiff with horror. 

"The Mage, YOU IDIOT!! THE MAGE THAT FELL DOWN HERE AND KILLED ASGORE!! I SAW HIM! I HEARD HIM!! HE IS LOOKING FOR YOU!!" Flowey snarled angrily. 

Hope's eyes widened and she looked towards the window. Her heart nearly stopped at those words. "N-no....." she was saying before she bolted towards the door.

"HEY!! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!" Flowey snarled as he lashed put his vines after her. 

One vine managed to snap around her wrist before Hope jerked her arm and yanked free looking at Flowey with fear and yet anger. "Don't, Flowey! I have to stop him! I have to warn Stretch! Don't touch me!" She snapped sounding braver than she felt. 

And with that, she grabbed the door and ran out with a flabbergasted flower monster staring after her.

With Stretch, he didn't know what to expect when he went running out of the house, running down the street, blip ping in short teleporting bursts.

He only stopped when he saw a group of the Cats around a sobbing Whimsun. He rushed over, pushing through BP and Catty, looking at the Whimsun. "What's going on?!" He demanded to know.

BP looked at him seriously before pointing to the west of the town. "A human, Papyrus! This Whimsun said a human was spotted with Asgore! He said......he said....." he paused wincing in pain. 

"What?! What about Asgore?!" Stretch demanded his eyes flashing. 

The Whimsun wailed as he looked at the tall skeleton. "The Hu-Human......! He killed Asgore!" He cried out in agony. 

If Stretch could go any paler than he already was, he did. He looked at the Whimsun with shock as his soul seized. "Wha-What?!" He breathed in horror. 

The Whimsun nodded timidly. "I.....I....I saw with my own eyes! Asg-Asgore was on his kn-knees! The human was....was standing before him.....with....with a weapon of some kind......a gun! Something was wrong! Asgore.....He couldn't move! He......he was trying t-to but he......coul-couldnt even get to his magic! And then....the Hu-Human killed him! He turned to Dust!"

Stretch growled softly before he closed his fist, the anger obvious in his eye sockets as they began to burn with orange magic and it came off of him like smoke. 

"Where is this human?" Stretch growled. 

BP pointed towards the edge of town again. "Alphys and Sans is going after.........!" He was saying. 

Stretch stiffened in horror and rage as his skull went straight up and his eyes widened. "WHAT?! MY BROTHER IS GOING AFTER THE HUMAN?!" He snarled as his magic shot up in a strong burst. 

BP looked startled as did everyone. "Ye-yeah but isn't that what Alphys is training him for? Sans has been training Sans, Papyrus. He can do.......!" He was saying. 

Stretch shot off like a mad monster. He didn't need to argue this at all. He didn't need to be told. He needed to get to his brother now. He ignored all shouts as he just ran. 

"God damn it!" The tall skeleton roared as he biped as fast as he could. 

He knew his brother. 

Stretch knew that Sans was in danger. He knew how Sans was. He knew that in point of his life did Sans ever fight someone who had killed. Besides Alphys, but she was training him. 

His brother had always been too friendly for his own good. He was too nice and naive to believe a true enemy wouldn't hurt him. He would believe he could make the enemy change by sweetened words of friendship. He would try and change the enemy's heart by speaking too nicely to him.

And that was what was going to get him hurt badly.

Stretch knew that Sans was going to do that. And if this human had no problem hurting Asgore, who was a lovable oaf just like his brother was, he knew if he didn't get to Sans now, he was going to lose his brother.

"Please, please, please! Don't do this to me! Not Sans!" Stretch whispered as he went as fast as he could. 

And he broke through the clearing, where he found them. 

The first thing he saw was Blue standing in front of the human, a tall, well built man in black clothes. The human had short cut cropped hair and dark eyes. A smile of fake friendliness on his face. 

He saw armor full of dust. 

Alphys. 

God, the human got Alphys, didn't he? 

The human was approaching Blue, who did have tears staining his face but he was smiling his sweet smile, offering the human his hand. 

"WE CO-COULD BE FRIENDS! I FORGIVE YOU......! I KNOW YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT ASGORE OR ALPHYS!! I KNOW YOU ARE TRULY A NICE HUMAN JUST LIKE HOPE! I FORGIVE YOU!" Blue had been saying. 

The human smiled softly at Blue, reaching out for his hand, his other hand behind his back. "Thank you, Sans. You are such a nice monster. I am so sorry for hurting them. They....they just frightened me when I saw them. You're right. I didn't mean to hurt them......" the man was saying. 

Stretch saw the knife glistening behind his back. His soul roared with horror and rage. "SANS!! GET AWAY FROM HIM!!" He shouted as he rushed forward. 

Blue jumped and turned around with alarm, as had the human. They looked right at him. A wide smile on the small skeleton ' s face formed. "PAPPY! IT'S OKAY!! HE'S SORRY FOR WHAT HE DID! HE IS NICE!! HE DIDN'T MEAN TO.....!" He was saying. 

"NO!" Stretch cried out when he saw the malicious look on the human ' s face before lashing out with his hidden weapon. 

The blade flashed with light before sinking right into the center of Blue's sternum. 

Blue yelped very loudly and choked as he whipped back around to look at the sneering grin on the human ' s face with shock. He choked as his entire frame began to flake. 

"N-No!" Stretch choked out as he skidded to a halt, his eye sockets wide in horror and pain. 

The human sneered as he yanked the glowing knife out now Blue and stepped back. "Too easy. If monsters are like you, killing all of them will be all too easy." He said darkly. 

Blue shuddered, stumbling back as he now clutched at his sternum that was bleeding blue magic as he turned to look shakily at Stretch, who was frozen in shock. "P-P-Pap.......Pa-Pappy......." he murmured in pain and stumbled towards his older brother who immediately biped to his side and caught him as he fell. 

The moment he touched his baby brother though.....Blue burst into Dust. 

"N-no.......!" Stretch cried out now clutching the dust filled clothes to his chest, his spine bending as he the tears began to fall.

"Heh. This is too easy. You must be the brother the fat lizard mentioned. Heh. It was wrong about one thing. Take down the little brother, take down the big." The human was saying. 

Stretch snapped up to see the human was raising the knife above him and he snapped. 

A primal snarl erupted from him and Stretch lashed out his hand which burst with orange fiery magic. He heard the human yell out as he was flung backwards by his magic but he didn't care. He just growled viciously with tears raining down from his eye sockets and glared at the human as he stood up. 

"Pal, ya are gonna die." Stretch growled as his magic whirled around him with hate and rage. 

The human stood up from where he had been flung, looking surprised. He was covered in snow but he paid no mind as he scrambled for the knife. He turned to face Stretch who was now summoning Gaster Blasters. 

"Shit. They didn't say anything about those." The human said now turning to face the skeleton. 

Stretch glared as he raised his hand. "Dude, ya fucking killed my brother! And now, ya gonna wish ya hadn't!" he snarled now starting to charge the blasters. 

The human just smirked as he raised the now glowing knife that did make Stretch frowned. "I've been training to kill monsters for a while now, boney. I think you're going to be surprised with what......!" He was saying. 

"STOP!!" 

Both jerked around to see Hope stumbling into the clearing and both looked surprised to see her. She looked like she had ran a marathon to get there. 

"Hope! Stay back! I got this!" Stretch growled turning back to face the human. 

Hope shook her head, looking terrified. "No, you dont, Stretch! He is very dangerous! Don't go near him! That knife.....! It's poisonous to monsters!" She called over trying to stumble over to him. 

Stretch looked surprised at her, curious to know how she would know that. 

But the human sneered as he looked at her. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our our little insider. Hello, Hope. You did a good job down here. Just like you were told to do." He said. 

Stretch stilled now looking at Hope who cringed. He felt everything just stop. Freeze in despair and shock as he saw the guilty look on her face. "Hope.....? What's he talking about?" He asked now deeming distressed. 

Hope shuddered as she looked at him with now teary eyes. "I......I was going to tell you......I can't do it......" she was saying, her voice now trembling badly. 

"Awww, don't tell me you were going to betray us, Hope? You know better than to do that. What would G say.....?" The human was sneering. 

Hope gave a snarl as she turned to give him the most hateful look. "Shut up, Timothy!" She snapped. "Fuck you and fuck G! I am not going to do this! I am not going to let you hurt them!" She snapped angrily. 

Stretch just stared at her with suspicion yet also pain. He had a feeling he didn't want to know all of this. He wasn't going to like it. "Hope.......what's going on?" He asked slowly.

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" The human, Timothy sneered as he looked at the skeleton. "She's one of us. She is a Mage. She was sent down here to get to know all of the monsters. To distract them from seeing us coming. She was the innocent, little sacrifice who would be the downfall of the monsters so we, the Luminosity of Gaia could swoop in and kill every monster down here. By the way, Hope, did you find the research you were sent here to....." 

"Shut up!" Hope snapped in pain begore looking at the now betrayed look on Stretch ' s face. "Str-Stretch.....I was going......" 

"Who the fuck are you?" Stretch asked suddenly pained and betrayed as he stared at her. 

Hope shuddered, seeing the growing rage. She just shook her head. "Stretch......I swear.....I am Hope. I am exactly who you think......." she was saying. 

"Liar." Timothy sneered as he started laughing. 

Hope shot him a look before she raised a hand, which began to glow. It made him stop laughing. "Shut the hell up, Timothy!" She snapped as something glowed before her. 

Words formed right in front of her. 

RESET. 

"Hey! You're not suppose to use that one!" Timothy exclaimed now stiffly. 

"Too late! I'd like to tell him the truth without you interrupting! Not to mention, you killed Blue! I am not going to let you or G do that to him! To them! Next time, if you ever come back, we will be ready for you!" Hope snapped before she slapped her hand down on the words. 

There was a brilliant flash of white and a loud pop before it went black.

And everything, the time line resetted.


	14. Fourteen

When everything became clear to Hope again, she found she was on her back, in a bed of golden flowers. She took look around and knew she was back in the Ruins. She knew it had worked. 

She had reset......just like how G told her that she could. 

Hope scrambled up to her feet and looked down at herself. She was just surprised that she wore the same clothes she had been wearing before she reset. That wasn't suppose to happen. It was suppose to be as if she had never been there before so she could start over.

Well either way, she knew she had to find Stretch and Blue and even Asgore to make sure they were okay. She needed to fix this. 

Because one thing was for sure, she knew that when she reset, things started over again but it never effected G. 

He would know she had resetted, the forbidden magic she had discovered some time ago because he said she had it. He had known she could do it. He was the one who taught her how to use it. 

Not to mention, while all of the other monsters wouldn't remember her, Stretch sure would. She recalled that he had said he remembered resets.

He would remember what had happened in the last timeline. 

And she knew he was going to be angry and she couldn't blame him. 

While she didn't lie about who she was or how she felt, she knew she had lied about why she had came to the Underground in the first place. She had lied and not said why she had been there. She knew she was no better than Timothy or G. 

God, why had they sent Timothy to check on her? 

Timothy was a force to be reckoned with and it always left Hope with a massive headache to deal with whenever she had had to deal with him. He was a jerk to everyone else but.....well, G. Anyone smart wouldn't try and be an ass with him.

Either way, Hope knew she needed to find Stretch.

Getting to her feet, Hope started rushing towards the cavern to head through the Ruins. She needed to go now. She needed......

To stop because there was Flowey, blocking her way, looking at her like she had grown two heads. He was looking alarmed at her. It was probably because he didn't know who she was....... 

"How did you do that?!" Flowey blurted out.

Hope blinked at him. "Uh.....do.....do what? Who are.....?" She was asking. 

Flowey growled at her, with his nasty look. "Don't play with me, Hope! I know about the resets too! I remember everything! You're the one, aren't you?! You're the one who was messing with time and space! You did the resets!" He exclaimed. 

Hope blinked again. "I don't follow, Flowey. What are you talking........?" She was saying. 

"THE RESETS, IDIOT!! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN RESETTING, AREN'T YOU?!" Flowey snarled. 

"Flowey, I've never been down here before until I fell down the first time." Hope said in aggravation. "The resets from before, I've only once down here and that was because of Timothy!" 

"But you've done it up there, right?!" Flowey argued looking at her in irritation. 

Hope shrugged. "Well.....yeah. A few times. Maybe about twenty times but I don't see how......" she was saying in confusion. 

Flowey blinked at her, surprised. "So you are the one who kept resetting down here. Even when others fell down here! Every time we had a reset down here, it was because you were doing it up there! We've only had about twenty resets! Maybe just a little more!" He exclaimed and Hope just looked surprise. 

The resets......was it really because of her that the monsters had lived a few days over and over again?

"Flowey, I don't have time for this! I've got to find......." Hope was saying impatiently. She turned to just leave but froze when she saw an orange flash and her breath caught in her throat when she saw a panting Stretch just appear right before her. 

And he did not look happy at all. 

"Stretch!" 

"Who the fuck are you?!" Stretch suddenly growled now glaring at her and she flinched as if she had been slapped. 

"Stretch, it's me. Hope. Don't you remember.....?" Hope was asking now worried. 

Stretch just glared at her, looking angry and hurt at the same time. "I know your name, Hope! I remember it all! What happened back in the other time line and don't fucking lie to me again! Who are you?! What are you?! And what did that asshole who killed MY little brother mean that you're one of THEM?!" He growled angrily. 

Hope flinched again now backing away. She knew it was coming down to it. She knew he was angry at her now for her deciet. 

It was time to come clean. 

"Stretch," she said with a defeated sigh. "I'm so sorry. You're right. I lied. You're right. I am Hope. I did lie about why I was here. But it's not what you think......" 

"Then tell me what it is!" Stretch snapped as he glared at her. 

Hope flinched again and looked at him with teary eyes. "I am who I said I am. But......I was a sacrifice. That isn't a lie. I was sent down here to die or to succeed in getting some stuff for the Luminosity of Gaia!" She was saying frantically. 

"What are they?!" Stretch growled furiously and she flinched again. 

"A.......a society of Mages, humans with magic! They were created to.....to fight Monsters in case you....in case you were going to destroy mankind because of your imprisonment!" Hope said quickly backing away when he started towards her, looking quite threatening. She knew he was too angry right now. 

"What did we do to piss them off then, huh?! Why did that asshole kill Sans, Hope?!" Stretch demanded. 

Hope continued to back away with him advancing on her. She only halted when her back hit the black cavern wall. She cringed when he stood right over her, just glaring down at her. "I.......they're......they hate monsters, St-Stretch. They......just want to destroy them. I d-dont know why. They weren't exactly open when they pushed me off into the Underground!" She told him.

Stretch backed up a step still glaring. "So you came down here without your own freewill. Why did you come down here besides that? Why you? What did that asshole mean did you find what you were looking for? What was it?" He demanded.

Hope shivered wrapping her arms around herself. "They....wanted me to distract the monsters. Bec-because of how I am. Because of my magic. They wanted me to find Gaster ' s research." She told him somewhat shakily. 

"What?" Stretch asked with a slight growl, his eye sockets narrowed. 

"Th-theres something......there's something that G needs from it to complete something he is planning." Hope said weakly. 

"And what is he planning?" Stretch growled. 

Hope shook her head with tears in her eyes. "I.....I....I don't know......I swear. All I know is.....he is angry at Gaster. He is really, really angry. He wants to find him and kill him." She said her voice trembling. 

"So you think it's okay to kill my brother in your quest to kill my dad, is that it?!" Stretch growled his arms now folded in a defensive way. 

"No! I didn't want to hurt him, Stret......!" Hope cried frantically. 

"Well you did, Hope! By not telling me the truth from the beginning! You could have warned me or everyone else and because you didn't, I had to watch him die! He turned into dust right arms!" Stretch snapped now starting to get emotional from the anger and pain he was feeling.

Hope felt dread swelling up as she felt her tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "Did he not come back......?" She asked horrified. 

Stretch glared harder at her. "No, he did! And he was freaking out when I woke up moments ago! I tried to calm him down because he remembered what happened to him!" He growled. 

"But he shouldn't have remembered! I reset!" Hope cried still horrified. 

"Well, he did! And I am sure if he remebered, so did everyone else! You might have reset, Hope but they all remembered and everyone was confused! Why didn't you tell me about this?!" Stretch exclaimed now throwing his hands up. 

Hope flinched but tried to reach out towards him. "I was scared of you, remember?! And I couldn't tell you! I was going to tell you eventually but I didn't know......!" She cried out miserably.

Stretch pulled away from her, stepping back with his hands raised. He was still furious with her. "You're one of them, Hope! Apart of the people who are trying to kill us! And you lied to me! Or didn't tell me when you had a chance to! I'm sorry, but ya kind of broke my trust! I don't know why you want to kill us but I am not going to trust you when one one of your guys killed my brother! And monsters.......! They still think the human is down here, ready to kill them like he killed Asgore, Alphys and Sans!" He snapped as he backed away from her. 

Hope had tears falling down her cheeks as she felt her heart breaking. She knew he had a legit reason not to trust her now. She had lied. She was a part of the Luminosity, Mages who wanted to kill monsters. 

"Stretch.......please, just listen to me! I don't want to hurt you........!" 

"Ya already did, Hope!" Stretch snapped glaring at her. "And don't call me that any more! My name is Papyrus! Only friends can give me nicknames! And true friends don't lie to their friends! And now, I've got to go warn everyone that the humans want to kill us!" 

Hope really started to cry as she tried to step towards him again, hand reached out. "Stret......Papyrus, please! You have to listen to me! They will come back! They will kill you!" She cried. 

Papyrus glared at her but shook his head as he just backed away from her. "When they come back, I'll kill them! Before they can hurt anyone again! As for you, if you ever come near Sans again, I'm sorry but I will kill you! I will not let anyone hurt him again! Especially not you! You can go back to them, and tell them that if they come down here, looking for trouble, I will be right there giving it right back!"

And with that he turned to leave. 

"St-Stretch........!" Hope sobbed now stepping after him. "Ple-please.......I ca-can help you........" 

"You've done enough! Go back to G, whoever the fuck he is for all I care!" Papyrus snarled before he was suddenly gone in an orange flash. 

Hope felt her heart just break as she sank down to her knees and she covered her face, sobbing. She knew he was so angry at her for lying and she didn't blame him. She didn't blame him for one moment. 

She had lied to him. 

She had lied to everyone. 

And Sans had been killed because she had been too afraid of telling them. 

Sure, he was alive now because she had reset. But he remembered what had happened to him. He was.....he was probably tramatized at what had happened. She knew he must have been having a fit of what happened. Would he even trust her when he learned was a part of the group that had killed him? Would he be as angry as Stretch.......as Papyrus had been?

She knew the answer had to be yes.

If it were her it had been done to, she would have been angry.

It was a mess now.

Everything she had was now lost. 

And she didn't even notice, as she sat there on the ground that Flowey was watching the entire time, looking stunned by everything he had just seen or heard.

And he sat there, silently watching her, listening to her cry in her misery.

 

Stretch was beyond angry by the time he returned to Snowdin. He was literately rattling his bones as he went charging towards his house where he had left his little brother in Grillby's care, with Alphys and Fuku.

When he had felt the reset kick in, and he woke up in his room, on his bed as he usually did when a reset happened, to Blue freaking out badly as if he had had a nightmare, he had never panicked as bad as he had before.

It took a moment of holding Blue close to calm his crying. Stretch had whispered words of comfort to his little brother as he laid in his arms crying.

And the fury set in. 

He remembered what had happened, what had been said.

Hope. 

God, he dearly wished it hadn't been true. He had hoped she would have denied it when he went looking for her back in the ruins. That she would tell him that that dispictable human had been lying. 

But......she hadn't. 

And if Stretch had to be honest, it broke his heart. 

He was angry but more sad than that. He had hoped that Hope hadn't been apart of whatever group that man had been in. 

But she told him she was. 

Ture, she had been scared and he didn't blame her for being scared. He would have been too, if it were him. 

But the fact was, that human, that group, the Luminosity of Gaia......they wanted to kill monsters. They had killed Sans. And that meant because Hope had lied about why she was there, she was one of them. 

And Stretch ' s biggest priority was protecting his baby brother. He had sworn his very soul on protecting Sans the moment that Gaster had hurt him that he wouldn't let anyone hurt him again. 

Not even Hope. 

Stretch would not deny it that he had really been in love with her. The last month being with her as a friend and then a somewhat lover......he had fallen so in love with her. 

And to hear she was a part of that group......the Luminosity, it shattered his heart. 

By the time he got back to his house, it was rather crowded now. Asgore was there, looking shakened. Toriel was there, looking frantic to finding out what happened with the human. Poor Undyne was there with Napstabot, shaking in horror and fear by what was being said.

And Blue was still crying in the Queen's arms. 

But when Blue saw Stretch, he lunged for him instead and buried himself into his older brother's arms, rattling violently. 

"Papyrus, where is Hope?!" Grillby asked now shakily looking around desperately. 

Oh, god this was going to hurt telling the Fire Element. But he couldn't hide the truth. 

Stone faced, Stretch tightened his arms around Blue. "She's a traitor. She was with that human who killed Sans in the last timeline." He said stonily. 

That brought a shock to all standing there. 

"Wh-what?! No! That isn't true!" Grillby said his fire crackling loudly. 

Stretch growled softly but did not hide the pain and anger he felt. "It is, Grillby! It is true! She said it herself! The human that killed Asgore, Sans and Alphys is a part of a group of Mages called the Luminosity of Gaia and they want to destroy all monsters!" He snarled. 

"N-No!" Grillby yelled back his flames growing furiously as he glared painfully at him. 

"Yes." 

Everyone turned to look at the pained Undyne. She looked shakened to her gills. Tears in her eyes as she trembled, curling into herself with the attention on her. She looked distraught.

"I......I.....saw and heard everything.......I saw Wh-what Th-that's human did......heard what Hope.....sa-said......on my cameras....I....ha-have....all over.....the Underground.....I re-recorded it all too." Undyne said trembling and playing with her long red hair. "I even......be-before.....I was going through the research.....Th-that's Gast - Gaster left.....he me-me-mentioned this group before.......in his journ-journals.......they're......the L-L-Lum-Lumonisity of G-Gaia......they want to destroy monsters......" 

Toriel gave a choke before touching her own chest as she looked over at Stretch. "And Hope.....she was a part of that group?" She asked shakily. 

Stretch nodded sadly, his eye lights drawn to Blue in his arms. "She didn't deny it. I wanted her to but she didn't. She told me she was sent down here to distract us from seeing the threat coming. She told me that they wanted to destroy monsters and we're after Gaster ' s research. And they will be coming back." He said solemnly.

"Wha-What else did she say?" Asgore rumbled painfully.

Stretch shook his head as he looked back at him. "I.....I'm afraid I was too angry to find out more. I left her in the Ruins. I told her to go back to them and warn them if they come down here again, I will kill them." He growled softly. 

Toriel sighed before looking at Alphys. "Alphys, gather the Royal Guard. Go get her and bring to me." She ordered. 

Everyone stiffened as they looked at her in surprise. Even Stretch. 

The Queen shook her head as she just looked firmly at them. "I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. Hope has done wrong by not telling us the truth, so she will be our captive. But she knows this Luminosity. She can tell us what to expect from them." She said firmly. 

"She lied to us, Tori! She isn't going to tell us!" Stretch argued. 

"She will, Papyrus. She will tell us and we will know. Yes, she lied. She is one of them. But....whether we like it or not, she was our friend. We showed her kindness and she is Kindness. Yes, Kindness can be misjudged. It can be dangerous. We could get hurt by Kindness. But if one thing is for sure, it is also Truth. She is too kind to lie to us again because we now know what she is." Toriel said firmly. "Don't mistake me that I will underestimate her. I will not drop our guard around her. But she will tell us what the Luminosity is and what they are capable of. One way or the other. Now go get her, Alphys. Bring her bounded if you must. But we will be prepared for what is to come." 

Alphys nodded with a cool look on her face before she turned and left. 

Stretch huffed but looked down at the ground. "I hope you know what you're doing, Tori.because if this backfires on us......" he was saying. 

"It already did, Papyrus. Hope is our prisoner now. We are war and I do not like it. But I will put our kind in danger by not knowing what the Luminosity is. She can tell us. Willingly or not." Toriel said firmly. 

"You're talking about interrogating her?" Grillby asked now stiffly and everyone looked at him to see the disgust on his face. 

"Grillby, I am sorry. She is your daughter but we cannot underestimate......." Toriel now said in pain, knowing he hated this. 

Grillby shook his head as he glared around at all of them. "No. I get it. I understand, Toriel. But I will not be a part of it! I will not hurt my daughter! I cannot have anything to do with it! I won't stop you but I will not help you!" He snapped before he turned and stormed out of the house, leaving smoke trailing behind. 

Everyone knew he was in pain by all of this. He was being torn between Hope and his own kind now. And he couldn't do it. 

Everyone knew this was destroying him. 

"PA-PAPPY......." Blue finally spoke now clutching onto his brother's hoodie with tears spilling from his eye sockets. "SHE......SHE'S OUR FRIEND!! WE CAN'T DO THIS TO HER!" 

Stretch sighed as he lowered his brother to the floor and kept a hand on his shoulders. "Sans, she wasn't our friend. She lied......" he was saying. 

But Blue yanked away, shaking his head as he backed away. "NO! HOPE IS OUR FRIEND AND I FORGIVE HER! I BELIEVE IN HER! SHE MIGHT HAVE HAD NO CHOICE! DID WE EVEN THINK OF ASKING HER!" He demanded as he wiped at his cheeks. 

"Sans......." Stretch was saying now torn. 

Blue shook his head violently before whirling around and rushing for the stairs. "NO! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! I WON'T!! HOPE IS GOOD AND YOU KNOW IT!! SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A PART OF BAD HUMANS BUT SHE ISN'T BAD!! I KNOW IT!!" He shouted as he ran up the stairs. 

Stretch stood up quickly, hand out stretched as if to stop him. "Sans!" He called after him. 

"LEAVE ME ALONE!! IF YOU THINK HURTING HOPE TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH IS RIGHT, IT'S NOT!! AND I KNOW SHE HAD NO CHOICE!! I JUST KNOW IT!!" Sans yelled behind himself before going into his room and slamming the door. 

Stretch flinched but then sighed in defeat. He knew Blue just needed time. 

"I'm sorry, Papyrus. But I can't allow....." Toriel was saying. 

Stretch turned away, shaking his head as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "No. Do what you gotta do to keep our kind safe. My feelings for Hope.....they're gone. I won't forgive her for lying to us even if Sans will. We just need to be ready for what shit is going to go down. I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later to find out what Hope says when you catch her." He said solemnly before leaving his house.

Toriel sighed heavily before looking at Asgore as he placed his giant paw on her shoulder for comfort. They didn't like it. They didn't like where this was going. 

But they had no choice. 

If Hope didn't tell them willingly of what the Luminosity was, or what they were capable of, they would use methods that disgusted them. 

Even if they didn't want to.


	15. Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Luminosity of Gaia strikes.........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Best Used:  
> Black Blade-Two Steps From Hell  
> Indestructible-Immortal (Vivien Chebbah)

Hope was deep in distress for what had happened. Her heart was broken and she knew it was her fault. She knew she had done wrong by not telling Stretch the truth. 

And it hurt her. 

It hurt so bad that she had messed up so badly. She knew she had messed up and she had no idea how to fix it. Not with how angry Stretch was. She didn't blame him for being so angry.

And it just fucking hurt. 

"Why?" Hope whispered as she covered her face with her hands, her whole body just shaking. She hurt emotionally and physically from it all. Her chest....her head.....her heart.....it all just hurt. "Wh-why does it hurt so bad?! Why?! I don't understand.......!" 

"Because you love him." 

Gasping softly, Hope's head whipped up and she looked up to see Flowey......still there. He was still there, watching her with pain and sorrow. He had come closer, his leaves now reaching over and touching her knees. 

"Fl-Flowey......you're....you ca-came back......." Hope cried now wiping at her completely wet face. 

Flowey bobbed his petals softly. "Haven't left......Hope, you love Papyrus, don't you? That's why it hurts so badly. Because of what you did.....what you didn't do, you love him. And because you betrayed him.....and us...it hurts....." he whispered softly. 

Hope shook in pain and grief as she tried to wipe at her puffy red eyes but nodded. "I.....I think I do......Oh, Flowey, I am so sorry! I wish I could take it all back! It's why I reset! So I can start over! Why didn't it work?!" She cried now covering her face as her shoulders shook and her long hair fell around her like a curtain.

There was a pause before Flowey sighed and he tapped her knee. "Maybe.....you didn't want to start over." He said softly. 

Hope looked down at him with ridicule. "But I did!" She said sniffing heavily. 

"Not all the way, you didn't. If you wanted to start completely over, when you reset, it should have wiped everyone's memories of you. All but Papyrus'. But they remembered. Because you didn't want them to forget you." Flowey said softly. "You wanted only for them to be alive. You wanted Sans back, alive and okay. But you didn't want him to forget you. That's why they remember you and what happened. You reset only a part of it." 

Hope stared at him and knew he was right. She hadn't wanted anyone to forget her, not truly. That was probably why it hadn't reset the way it was suppose to. 

Still.......

Sighing, Hope lowered her head. "I'm such a fool. I.....screwed up. I should have been honest." She said safly. 

"Why did you agree to do it? Why lie? You're too nice for this, Hope. So why?" Flowey said now tilting his head and petals. 

Hope sighed again and shifted so she could sit on her butt and make herself more comfortable. "I didn't have a choice, Flowey. I didn't know the monsters and they did scare me. But I didn't want to do this. But....." she paused as she wiped her eyes again. "They have my mother." 

Flowey blinked at her now surprised. "Huh?! What do you mean?! Opaline?! She's dead, isn't sh......?" He asked in alarm. 

Hope shook her head as she felt another tear escape. "She's alive. I lied about that too. She is alive and G has her locked up. He will kill her if I don't do this for them." She sighed in defeat and leaned against the cavern wall. "When I was born, I was taken from Opaline. She was imprisoned because they knew what I was. I never knew until now. Until I found out about Grillby. They said she was a traitor and a criminal for having a monster child. And I was given to my adopted parents to raise. I didn't know about her for a long time until I turned sixteen. I went snooping around a prison we have in town and I found her. She knew who I was the moment she saw me." 

"So.....she's alive? And she's the reason.....?" Flowey asked somewhat horrified. 

Hope nodded sadly. "I knew.....she was my mother. She told me she was. I went to visit her a few times and then I was found out. G found out that I knew about her and he used her against me. Because of what I am, what I can do, he threatened to kill her. He told me I had to come here, to the Underground and find Gaster ' s research. I had no choice, Flowey. If I didn't come here, and if I told them the truth, he would kill her." She said now sobbing again. 

Flowey just looked at her with pain and sympathy now. He now understood. He now knew why. 

"You have to tell them the truth then! It'll fix everything!" The flower blurted out and Hope looked at him with teary eyes. 

"But would they......?" 

"Yes! If you told them that, they would understand! Papyrus would understand! He will forgive you! If you didn't have a choice because they have Opaline, they would forgive you! I forgive you!" Flowey said quickly now pressing up against her. "We can help you!" 

Through a wet smile, Hope felt something inside her now melding together. She felt......hope. 

"O-okay. Will you come.....come with me to tell them?" Hope asked shaking. 

Flowey bobbed his head and petals enthusiastically now, a smile on his face. "Yeah! I will!" I promise! It will okay! As long as you stay DETERMINED!" He said brightly. 

Hope smiled and wiped her eyes, nodding. She knew it would be worth trying. As long as she tried, that was all that mattered. And maybe....just maybe.....Stretch would forgive her and love her again. 

KABOOM!!! 

Hope and Flowey both jumped in alarm and shock as the cavern shook suddenly from an explosion and they both screamed, flinching as they jolted up and looked around. 

The explosion was so close to them that black crystals rained down on them, making them cry out. Hope tried to cover the flower as he flinched at another explosion and they cried out as black crystal chunks fell around them.

Hope cried out loudly as she curled herself around Flowey, who now clutched onto her, vines starting to wrap around her tightly as they just held onto each other. 

And then it stopped. 

Coughing at dust, Hope looked around the darkness and was relieved that they were uninjured and in a pocket of black crystal. They hadn't been harmed at all. Neither her or Flowey were hurt. She met his wide beady eyes with alarm before flinching when she heard noise. She turned and peered out through cracks of black crystal and stone, only to gasp and cover her mouth. 

From the cavern next to this one, lumps of forms appeared with brilliant light behind them, coming into the caverns of the Ruins. 

Humans. 

Humans who were armed with guns and so many types of weapons. They were dressed like soldiers, heading into a battle with thick black clothes and body armor with the symbol of the Luminosity of Gaia. 

And at the front, stepping through brilliant light, there he was. 

Tall, thin, wearing all black besides the white fur hoodie, there he was. 

G. 

Hope heard Flowey gasp at the sight of the skeleton monster but she was quick to slapping a hand over his mouth to keep him from making any more noise. She just clutched onto him, watching as that tall monster walk into the cavern. 

They were well hidden in the black crystal chunks, thankfully. Unnoticed by G and the Humans. 

With black eye sockets, the tall monster looked around before getting into his inside jacket and pulling out a pack of smokes. He pulled one out and placed it into his mouth, clenching down on the butt with his teeth before lifting one of his phalanges and lit the cigarette with purple fire magic. 

"The monsters of this Underground would have heard that explosion." G finally spoke, his voice a little raspy from non use and he turned to the large group of humans right behind him, now piling into the black chamber. "Remember what I said. Use the anti magic nets and the tranqs. No kills for now. We will kill them later if they misbehave. Begin the attacks. Move swiftly so that none will escape. Find me Hope and bring her to me." He added with a growl. 

The human soldiers barked an affirmative immediately before they began to march through the cavern, heading deeper into the Ruins. 

"What about the skeleton brothers?" 

Hope started a the voice of Timothy as he suddenly appeared beside G. She was not surprised to see him here again. She knew he would come back. 

G just turned black eye sockets onto Timothy, purple lights now appearing in the black. "I want them alive. Capture them. And if the tall one gives you trouble, like he promised, call for me. I will deal with him, myself. He is the Judge of this Underground world after all. He will not be easy for you to fight at all. If you have to get him to comply though, kill the little one." He growled softly. 

Timothy nodded as he started to follow the soldiers. 

"Oh, and Tim?" 

Timothy turned round to look at the cold black eye sockets again, flinching at the look that G was giving him. That was a dangerous look that G wore. 

"If you come across Hope, do not touch her. If I find out you've touched her, just like you used to do, you will lose your fucking hand. Do I make myself clear?" G growled his black eye sockets narrowing. 

"Oh, come on, G! That was one time! And I was drunk! Maxwell beat the shit out of me already for what I did to her!" Timothy scowled now folding his arms only to flinch as G growled at him viciously. "Uh.....o-okay. Okay. I get it. I won't touch her." He added weakly. 

"Good. Because if you do," G said coldly as he forced a wide unsettling grin on his skeleton face. "You're gonna have a bad time, Tim! You make it a habit out of yourself of mistreating females! Touching them inappropriately. If you do it to her again, you won't like me any more than you already don't." 

Timothy nodded shakily before he hurried away.

G just stood there for a moment before starting to follow. He, however, stopped and slowly turned his skull towards the chunks of black cryatal, to where Hope and Flowey hid. His eye lights landed right on the pile. 

Quietly suckling in air, Hope cringed with Flowey, drawing back as quietly as they could without making sounds. If he knew where they were........

Thankfully, G turned and walked away with the eighty plus soldiers that were now rushing into the Ruins and the gunfire began. 

Once it was cometely quiet, other than distant noise, Hope exhaled shakily now as she let go of Flowey who gasped quietly now looking highly shakened. "Oh, my god! He's here! G is here! Oh my god! I've got to warn Stretch and Blue!" She whispered now completely frantic.

"Th-that's guy....! He was a monster?! That was G?!" Flowey asked now looking wide eyed at her. "He was a monster! Why is he a monster and why does he want to kill us?!" 

Hope shook her head as her breathing picked up rapidly. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't even think of something. "I......I don't know, Flowey! But that was G. His name is Gaster Sans! He calls himself G! And he is the founder of the Luminosity! I don't know what he is after but I do know I've got to get to Stretch! I've got to warn him!" She said now starting to push at crystal chunks. 

Flowey paused before he rushed forward to help her. He had to help her. He knew she couldn't do this alone. They needed to hurry and get freed to go help their friends.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Stretch was in a bad place right at the moment. And it wasn't due to the threat he didn't know was coming yet. It was that he was torn by his heart and soul. 

He wanted to believe Hope was good. He wanted her to not be the enemy that was trying to hurt him, his brothers, his kind. He wanted to believe that she was good and kind and she wasn't like that human called Timothy. 

He went to his spot, where he had taken Hope for their first kiss. He needed to think. He just needed a moment to think of what he should do about all of this. 

"God, what a mess." He murmured as he took his hands out of his pockets and covered his face. He sank down to his knees, near the Echo Dream flowers and just sat there. "Why is this happening? Why? Why is she one of them?" 

"........I don't want to hurt him......." 

Stretch jerked and looked around before his eye lights fell onto one of the purplish blue flowers. He stared at it for a good moment before realizing it. 

That was the flower. 

That was the flower that Hope had touched. 

Frowning, Stretch reached out and touched the stem, lightly, very lightly squeezing it so it work it's magic. 

".......I don't want to hurt him......" Hope's voice echoed out of the flower and he stilled with alarm. "....I want to tell him....." he looked widely at the other flowers as they began to echo out secret whispers. "......I want him.......to know.......I want to save my mother.......".

Eye lights zeroed one flower when he heard that one and he scrambled over to it, touching the stem. "What?" He whispered. 

".......I want to save my mother........Opaline.....she needs me......to do this.......I have to save her from G......but I don't want to hurt him........Stretch.......I love him so much but I have to save my mother......." 

Stretch felt as if his soul just tightened at that as he stiffened. He knew these flowers......they must have picked up her secret dreams. Her wishes. They had the power to do that. And no one must have been here since he brought her here. So no one else imprinted on them since she......

His jaw fell open and Stretch stood up as he stared at the flower. 

She said her mother......

"Oh, fuck! Sans was right! She didn't have a choice! Opaline must still be alive!" Stretch murmured now feeling like a fool. "Shit! I've got to find her!" 

He turned to teleporting quickly back to the Ruins. 

And then explosion happened. 

Crying out in alarm, Stretch stumbled and caught himself before he fell when he hard and felt the explosion. He felt it then. 

Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong and it felt like a knife against his vertibrae. Dread filled the air. He knew it then and there. 

That human.....he must have come back. 

And by the sounds of it, he brought friends. 

Gritting his jaw, Stretch teleported, his destination was Snowdin, his home. And he teleported right into a warzone.

Gunfire rang out from all around him and he flinched throwing up his hands to protect himself. He heard screams and shouts and he looked to see monster folk running past him. He looked and saw humans. 

Humans were everywhere, attacking monsters with guns. But the weapons weren't killing them. No, it seemed to be stunning them. Monsters were everywhere on the ground, looking frozen as if paralyzed. 

Stretch looked wildly around before seeing humans running towards him with the guns raised. He growled, his eyes flaring up orange before throwing out his hands and seizing them with his magic. And with a flick of his wtist, he flung them away through the air. 

There shouts of surprise but he knew he didn't have time to do anything else. He just needed to attack. 

From the far side of the town, watching it all, G saw the skeleton monster appear out nowhere and he frowned deeply as he watched the monster move. He was.....pretty good, actually pretty strong.

"That must be Papyrus then." G murmured in amusement t as he watched the skeleton flinging humans through the air and even teleporting over to slam more humans down into the snow before once again sending humans flying through the air. "Hm. Of course he isn't an Original. But most impressive."

"Do you want me to take care of him?" 

G turned his head only by a little to glance at Timothy but then shook his head as he smirked. "No. Bring the little one here. Let us see how far the older brother will go to keep his baby bones safe." He said darkly. 

Timothy nodded as he turned and went to do what he had been told to do. 

G just turned his eyes back onto Papyrus, watching as he attacked humans and even protected other monsters as they ran away, trying to escape. He was definitely protective of others, that was for sure.

A few moments of watching his humans attacking the skeleton, and watching how fast he was to dodging and teleporting everywhere, G looked over to see Timothy dragging an immobilized Sans over, who looked frightened because he couldn't move at all. 

"Approach him with this little one. Threaten to kill him. And threaten Hope in the process." G ordered him. 

Timothy looked quite surprised and uneasy but then he nodded as he palmed one of his blades and dragged Sans towards the tall skeleton. 

"Hey!" Timothy yelled over as he held up Sans by his blue scarf. 

Stretch jerked around with a snarl before freezing to see that human from before and with his little brother in his grip. "Sans!" He snarled before starting forward but he froze again when Timothy held up his blade to Sans' neck, who choked in fear and looked at his older brother. "Let him go, ya bastard!" 

"No, I don't think I will, big brother!" Timothy said with a sneer as he looked back at Stretch. "And if you think about using your magic on me, don't! Because one flash of your teleporting or that freaky eye thing you do before throwing me, I'll slice his skull off!"

Stretch glared hatefully but didn't move. He knew he had to be very careful or this dispictable human would kill Sans again. "If you hurt him, I will kill you!" He growled his fists balling up tightly.

Timothy sneered as he just held up the small skeleton but tilted his head to the side. "Really? I'm almost tempted to find out if you would. Should I stab him again? In the soul, so I can watch him turn to Dust in your arms again?" He asked nastily. 

Stretch snarled and dipped his head down but still did not move. He wouldn't be goaded into going at this human if he could avoid it. 

"Hmph. Well, I'll make a deal with you then. I'll let Sans go, if you tell me where our little Hope is." Timothy tried again. 

Eye sockets narrowing, Stretch growled viciously but dipped his skull down lower. "Why do you want her?!" He growled. 

Timothy just smirked wickedly as he dipped his own head down. He had a sudden great idea of how to push this monster's buttons. "Oh, you know how it is, skelebro. She's a pretty girl. And did you know she makes the most wonderful sounds when she is really scared?" He smirked when Stretch stiffened, now looking alarmed. "Yeah, especially when you're touching her in inappropriate places. She cries and begs for you to stop if you......"

Stretch snarled as his eyes flashed and he straightened up, looking hatefully at him. "You're the fucker who molested her, aren't you?!" He snapped. 

Timothy blinked once before scoffing and smirking. "Oh, she told you about that then, huh? Yeah, it was me. She was just thirteen when I saw her outside a bar. Oh, god. The sounds she made as I pinned her down to the ground. Mmmm." He said kind of lustfully actually. 

And it made Stretch snarl in rage but he still didn't move to attack. He sure wanted to though. He sure wanted to hurt this human by the sick things he was saying. He wanted to cause him real harm now. 

This man.....he was the one who had hurt Hope. He had touched her, almost raping her. He had made her so afraid. He had hurt her. And that just made a deep burning fury rise up inside of Stretch. 

"Oh, I definitely would like to try again. I wonder if I could ever......" Timothy was saying again. 

"If you touch her, I will DUNK you!" Stretch snatled. 

Afain, Timothy blinked in surprise and even felt the small skeleton in his grip stiffen. He definitely heard the rage there. Passionate and yet hateful. And it made him sneer. "Oh, you're in love with her, are you? You do realize that she is engaged, right?" 

Stretch glared at him but shook his head. He didn't even see the surprised look on Blue's face as he just looked at him. "She doesn't want that asshole! And I will not any of you hurt her or my brother! I will protect them both and everyone from you!" He snarled. 

"Even after she lied to......" Timothy was saying with a sneer. 

"She didn't have a fucking choice, did she?!" Stretch snarled interrupting him. "She didn't have a choice because your boss, G has her mother! He was threatening Opaline to do what she did, didn't he?!" 

There was a stillness as Timothy blinked at him in surprise. He didn't say anything for a moment but just stared, even as the little skeleton stiffened in his grip and even shifted. He never noticed it. 

"Aw, shit. She told you the truth then? Even after G warned her not to. He is going to be pissed." Timothy tsked shaking his. 

Stretch just glared at him. "She didn't tell me. I figured it out. Her mother, Opaline is alive. She has always been alive. And G threatened her that if she didn't do what she did, he would kill her!" He snarled before his eye lights fell right on to his little brother, who was brightening. "You were right, Bro. Hope is good. She is our friend. And we will protect her once we find her. We will help her save Opaline." 

Blue slowly brightened, his frown lifting up into a smile and he slowly nodded in agreement. "I knew it......" he murmured. 

Stretch grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah, ya did. I should have listened and I'm sorry. But it's gonna be okay now. We will find Hope and keep her safe and beat these assholes." He told him. 

"LANGUAGE!" Blue bellowed out bit grinned and recieved a grin right back. 

"Pfft! Idiots, the both of you. You're going to join all of your friends into becoming slaves. Once we take you down." Timothy said now waving a hand off to the side.

Jerking his head around, Stretch growled when he saw a human aiming a gun at him, getting ready to fire. He tensed up, ready to move. 

"Don't move, boney, or I will kill your......" Timothy was saying. 

However, Blue jerked in his grip and slammed a piece of sharp bone back into the human ' s leg, who screamed out in pain and threw the little skeleton away from him. He hadn't even noticed that Blue was had been moving again; the tranquilizer that had been used on him had worn off and he had summoned a sharpened blue bone into his hand as a weapon.

And for it, Blue stabbed him in the leg begore he was flung away. 

Immediately, Stretch reacted and thrashed out a hand towards his little brother with his magic, yanking him to him for saftey and even flinging out his other hand towards the humans with the gun. He threw that human hard backwards, making him yell out in alarm. 

"Shit! I'm going to murder you, you piece of shit......!" Timothy snarled angrily as he yanked the now bloody bone from his thigh where Blue had stabbed him. He even raised his knife to throw hard at the little skeleton who would still be hit if it was thrown. 

Suddenly, flames burst up all around Timothy, making him scream as he literately lit up in fire. 

Stretch, who had caught a startled Blue in his arms, looked on with alarm only to turn his gaze over onto a severely pissed off looking Grillby. He must have been close by and heard what the human had said about what he did to Hope.

Grillby was crackling violently as he raised both hands, blasting Timothy with fire and watching as he just burned alive. "You will never touch my daughter again!" He snarled as he just burned the human over and over again, who screamed and began running around in circles. 

Stretch and Blue watched in alarm as the human just burned before getting smart and throwing himself down into the snow. 

Grillby relented this time, glaring at the human as he rolled around the snow, putting the fire out. The human was burned badly by this point, his clothes burned off his body and his skin blackened and bleeding red. He had third degree burns all over his body now and he was still smoking. 

"How violent you are." 

Grillby, Stretch and Blue flinched at the sound of a new voice from directly behind the Fire Elemental and he turned with a jerk, only to come face to face with a large animalistic skull of a dragon. 

A Gaster Blaster etched with purple magic swirling from its eye sockets. The mouth wide open as it glowed with violent purple. 

"NO!" Stretch yelled out, recognizing the attack immediately and reached out a hand as if to stop the blaster from firing. 

It was too late. 

The Gaster Blaster fired and blasted Grillby head on with powerful magic, who covered himself with his arms but it was no use. His fire.......blasted by the vicious purple magic went out and he burst into dust. 

"GRILLBY!!" Blue cried now clutching onto Stretch who watched with horror as Grillby was incinerated right before his eyes. 

And behind the Gaster Blaster stood the opposing skeleton, who looked on with a lazy smirk. 

Stretch and Blue just gaped at this new skeleton monster with shock as they saw him. He just kept his hands at his sides as he stepped forward, past his Gaster Blaster, lifting his skull to look right at them. 

"What the fuck.......who the hell are you?!" Stretch asked pained to have seen Grillby's demise.

G just smirked at him as he looked right at the shocked skeleton brothers lazily. "My name is Gaster Sans. You can address me as G." He introduced himself as he dipped his skull in greeting. "And now, you fall." 

Stiffening again, Stretch turned with a jerk only to feel something sharp bite into his back, sinking into his bones as a human shot him.with the tranqs in the gun. He cried out in pain as he felt his frame just freeze up and he couldn't feel his magic any more. 

Blue yelped as he went tumbling right out of his arms, hitting sno. But he couldn't move either. And Stretch saw a glowing dart in his back. He didn't have to be told that he had been hit with a similar dart as he sank down into the snow. 

But one thing was for sure, he could not move or use his magic. He was paralyzed and with that tall skeleton in black now standing over him and his brother, smirking devilishly down at them, he knew they were in trouble. 

Humans now surrounded them, pointing their guns down at them. 

"Should we kill them?" A human asked as he looked at G. 

G shook his head as he just stuffed his hands now into his pockets. "No. We need them alive. We still can't find Hope. We need them to draw her out. And obviously, by hearing Papyrus' love confession for her, she will come to us to save them. She will come for them. Once she comes,capture her and then kill them. They are anomalies that will get in my way if i don't be rid of them." He said darkly.

"S.......son......nuva.......bit.....bitch........" Stretch growled between paralyzed teeth. 

G just scoffed softly before bending down beside him, looking him right in the eyes. "Well, he is our father, isn't he?" He murmured softly and that just made Stretch frown as much as he could anyway in confusion. 

But G did not say anything else as he stood up again and barked orders for humans to start gathering all monsters that had been caught and start loading them into cages to take to the Surface for enslavement.

He also ordered two humans to take the crispy Timothy back up to the Surface to the hospital for treatment. It surprised Stretch that that asshole was still alive but at least he had gotten what he deserved, even though it broke his heart to know that Grillby was now gone.


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Best Used:  
> Requiem of a Dream - Original soundtrack theme

It was too quiet now. 

Way too quiet. 

Hope and Flowey both didn't like it at all as they slowly crept through the Ruins, looking around cautiously. They didn't like this at all. 

There were no monsters in the Ruins as they looked. No humans. No sounds. No anything. 

And it terrified them both as they crept from shadows to shadows and it made Hope's skin crawl as she went with the golden flower clinging to her long hair on her shoulder. 

This did not bode well at all and she knew it was all G. She knew he had something to all of the monsters that lived in the Ruins. She just hoped that no one was dead yet. She didn't see dust lying around so the monsters must haven been alive.

"Wh-where is everyone?" Flowey whispered in dread. 

Hope looked around with worry before looking forward to see Asgore ' s house just ahead. She knew beyond that.....they were probably going to walk into the horror. They were going to find out what G had done to this wonderful place, turning it into a devastating place of horror and probably dust. 

"G. He must have everyone. He trained everyone in the Luminosity to attack fast and hard. He always said strike fast when it came to magic users. Don't let them get their magic. The guns they use.....they have some kind of serum that is able to lock magic and keep the users from using it against them." Hope told Flowey. 

Flowey looked at her with pain and agony. "Did....did he train you?" He asked quietly.

Hope glanced at him and nodded sadly as she looked forward again. "Yes. He did. He trained me, taught me how to use my magic. He taught me how to use the resets. He does know what I can do so if I end up facing him, I'm not sure how good that will do......" 

"I can help you." 

Hope squeaked and Flowey shrieked, both whirling around when they heard a voice they've never heard before. They hadn't expected it at all. 

However, looking around, they saw no one. 

"Who's there?!" Flowey snapped his face taking on a more sinister look again and vines snapped out around Hope in defense. 

There was a pause but no one showed their self to them. 

"It's all right. I mean you no harm at all. In fact, I want to help you." The voice spoke up again, almost echoing all around them. It sounded.....smooth, young.....but there was a warmth in it that seemed to ease the tension right out of Hope. She didn't feel threatened by it at all. 

"Who.....who are you? Where are you?" Hope asked worried nonetheless. 

Again a pause but still the owner didn't show themselves to her or Flowey. 

"Um.....well, it's kind of hard to explain without scaring you or anything. I'm not going to show myself because it.might just......confuse you really bad because you don't know about the other dimensions. But," the voice said again and Hope looked for it. "You.....you can call me Ink." 

Hope blinked right with Flowey before sharing a glance with him. They both looked confused in deed. "Ink?" She asked frowning. 

"Yeah. And the reason you can't see me is because I don't want you to see me yet. I.....um.....I'm kind of invisible to your eyes right now. Because I erased my image from this plane. But....I'm swear on my soul, I want to help you right things, Hope." The voice said softly. 

Hope stiffened as she looked around with wide eyes. She couldn't see the owner, just like he said but she was sure he was there. Somewhere. "How....how do you know my name?" She asked uneasily. 

There was a soft sigh but the voice sounded almost like it was smiling at her. She could almost see it. "I've kind of been watching you for a while now. It's what I do. I watch the True Souls of each dimension." Ink said quietly. "And lately......well, let's just say I'm not too happy with what I've been seeing. I'm not to happy with Gaster Sans." 

"You know G?" Flowey asked suspiciously.

There was almost like a shrug in the air and the two pretty much felt it rather seen it. "Kind of. We've met before. He is really a piece of work, I'll tell you that." Ink said and that was with sarcasm.

It couldn't be helped that Hope smiled at that remark. She knew it was true. G really was a piece of work. "So.....how can you help us?" She asked deciding to get right down to it. 

There was a pause. 

"Well, G is tough. And I really mean tough to fight. He is very strong and he has more magic then he let's on about. He is really dangerous and hard to beat. I know you can't beat him in an actual fight." Ink said from where ever he was hiding. "But I think you can give him a run for his money. And you will need help. So.....I can send someone over to help you. Someone who just as dangerous as G. But you can't trust him fully." 

Hope and Flowey looked at each other with bewilderment. 

"If we can't trust him, then how is that helping?!" Flowey exclaimed in exasperation. 

"Because G took something from him too. Just like he is going to try and take Hope. He will help you because he really hates G. He doesn't like me either but he is at least willing to try and help me deal with G and undo everything he is doing." Ink said warily. "The only reason he isn't trustworthy is because of how mentally unstable he is. He is not the most stable guy." 

"Okay." Hope said uneasily. "Well if he can help us, I guess we don't have a choice. We can use all the help we can get at this point." 

There was a sigh from Ink and it almost made Hope grimace. She sensed a "But" in that sigh. 

"However, there is a catch." Ink said and Flowey groaned loudly at it. "The catchnis, Hope, I need your help with something. Once you get done with G, you need to reset that world. And when you do, you have to come to me. Or.....rather I'm going to come get you." 

Hope felt her heart drop as she looked around wildly in panic. "Wh-what?!" She asked now breathing harshly and even Flowey tightened his grip on her as if she was going to disappear any second. 

"Calm down! It's not what you think! I swear, I won't hurt you! I won't do anything bad to you! But I need you to come with me. It's to keep you safe from G. He needs you for something a whole lot more than you think. There is something he isn't telling you and it will hurt you badly if he gets you." 

Hope was still in panic mode as she.looked around wildly. "But.....but this is my home! I can't leave! Stretch! I can't leave him! And Sans and my dad! Grillby! And my mom! G will kill her......!" She was saying. 

"No, he won't. I promise. She is already safe. My....um...colleague has already gotten to her. G doesn't know we snatched her from the prison where he was keeping her." Ink said calmly. "She is already safe. She is here with me. But once you beat G there, I need you to come here. With me. I promise, I will send you back once we stop G from doing what he is trying to do. You can still be with Papyrus of Underswap. But for now, if you stay there, G will keep coming after you. He will keep hurting Papyrus and Sans there. The only thing to do to keep them safe is come here. G can't come here. I keep my world locked up where he can't get here. It's the safest place." 

Hope shuddered and looked down at the ground. She didn't know if she could leave Stretch and Blue. They were her family as was everyone else. 

But....mif it kept them safe......from G......maybe she should do it. 

"All right. I agree." Hope finally said with a sad sigh. 

Flowey looked at her in shock. "Hope! No! What if he is lying?! What if it's G who is trying to trick you?!" He exclaimed. 

Hope sighed looking at him sadly but shook her head. "I don't think he is lying, Flowey. I think he is telling the truth. And he is right. G won't stop until he gets what he wants. And if it's the only way to stop him and keep all of you safe, I will do it." She told him.

Pained, Flowey just stared at her with now growing tears in his eyes. He hated this but he knew she was right in some way. "If you disappear, you know Stretch will not stop looking for you." He said weakly. 

Hope smiled sadly but nodded. "I know. That's why when I reset, I'm going to make sure he doesn't remember me." She said softly and Flowey looked horrified to hear that. 

But before he could argue, Hope quickly grabbed him and pulled him off her shoulder while flicking her hand towards the ground. 

The ground suddenly rumbled and shifted, now forming a mound of earth and rock, forming a cage which she quickly pushed the squawking golden flower into before closing it up around him. 

"Hope! What are you doing?! Hey!" 

"I'm sorry, Flowey! I'm so sorry! But I will face G alone and without you! I have to keep you safe too! And if you're with me, you're not safe!" Hope said now with tears in her eyes as she made sure to harden the earth until it was completely rock. 

"HOPE! NO!" Flowey cried now helplessly as he now thrashed around in his now earthy prison. 

Hope looked at him with tears in her eyes before she looked around for where ever Ink was hoding. She sensed his surprise in the air but shook her head at him. "If you're going to send help, then do it! I'm going to G now!" She said quickly before turning and running as fast as she could. 

"HOPE!! NO!!" Flowey cried before jerking when he saw movement at the corner of his eyes as someone appeared right there before him, looking surprised. The flower gasped when he saw this strange paint covered skeleton just appear. 

"Huh. I know she is Kindness but.....that sure was Bravery I just saw." Ink said as he blinked after her before looking back at the stunned flower monster. He smiled and held up a paint cover led hand as if to tell him to keep this quiet. "It's okay, Flowey. I'll make sure she stays safe!" 

And he suddenly vanished in splatters of colorful paint as the flower just gaped. 

 

Hope ran as fast as she could through Asgore ' s house and through his basement. She knew she needed to hurry now. She knew that G was an impatient monster. 

If he couldn't find her soon, he might start killing the monsters here to draw her out. She couldn't let that happen. Not to the monsters she loved so much. They were too good for this to happen to them. 

Running through the basement to the rest of the Underground, Hope burst out into the Winter Woods and began running through snow, looking around. She didn't know where G and the Luminosity would have all of the monsters. 

And then, running across the snow woods, to a cliff she knew would be right above Snowdin, she saw them. The huge group in the town, which was almost destroyed by now. 

She saw the monsters surrounded by Humans in the town square. It wasn't all of them, really. Just the ones that Hope interacted with the most. The King and Queen, Alphys, Undyne, Fuku, Muffet, Napstabot and her two most cherished friends, the skeleton brothers. She couldn't see her father though.

And she saw G, pacing back and forth near yhem, looking quite aggravated. He us have been waiting for her. 

Hope knew she would have to be careful. She knew she couldn't fight G alone. She needed help and so far, Ink's help wasn't there yet. And who knew when he would show up. Whoever he was. 

Deciding on the more stealthy approach, Hope began to climb down into the trees. She needed a plan. She couldn't just go waltzing in there without one. 

 

"Any sign of her yet?" G asked as a soldier approached him. 

The human shook his head as he looked at G. "No, sir. No sign of the girl yet. And we've looked almost everywhere now. She could be back in the Ruins. That's the only place we haven't looked yet." He told him. 

G growled irritably before glancing at the monsters that were tightly bound in the snow, on their knees. He frowned at them before looking towards the edge of town. He stared very long and hard before smirking. "She's here. I know she is. I can feel her. She's hiding." He murmured quietly. 

The soldier looked around for a moment before back at him. "Should we search?" He asked. 

G shook his head with a smirk before he looked right at the group of monsters, who all stiffened, looking worried. "No. She can come out all on her own. But we will draw her out faster." His eyes turned and fell onto Stretch, who glared at him furiously. "Let's give her a reason to show herself quicker. Bring me the small skeleton." 

Stretch and everyone else stiffened in horror before he snarled and tried to move to the side to protect his brother as the human came towards them. "Don't you fucking touch him!" He snarled before crying out as another human lift his gun and shot him with a new tranq.

"PAPPY!" Blue cried before yelping as he was roughly seized by the human and dragged over to G. He tried to thrash to get away but it was hardly any use. He was so drained from the couple of shots he had taken so not to be able to use his magic and he rendered him weak. 

".......n-no......no....no......don't.....hu-hurt him.......!" Stretch tried to cry out as he did everything he could to break free from the paralyzing effect left on him. 

Blue was shoved down face first in the snow and he tried to scamper back with fear in his big blue eyes, looking up at G as he stood above him. He didn't get very far as the human grabbed him by the skull and forced him to stay there. 

G just smirked coldly down at him before turning around and looking to the trees. "Hope!" He called out loudly. "Hope! I know you're there! Come on out and I'll let this little one go!" 

There was only silence as his purple lights in his skull looked around, trailing from to tree in search for the honey haired girl. 

Hope was there, behind a tree, clutching onto her own hoodie, her heart pounding. She couldn't show herself yet. She had to wait for Ink's help. She just hoped he would hurry. She couldn't face G alone. 

"Hope!" G called again now sounding irritated. "If you do not come out in three seconds, I will Dust this Sans!" 

Hope's heart froze as she paled, turning around against the tree and hugging it. She still did not come out yet. Her fear......could she even face G by herself? She wasn't sure.

"Fine!" G growled before turning sharply to look at the human. "Pull his skull off!" 

Blue choked in fear and several monsters cried with him in horror as they watched the human reach forward. 

Suddenly there was a loud whoosh of frozen air that whipped right past G and around Blue and the human yelped as he was flung through the air and felt sharp bites of ice hitting his skin. 

"KEEP YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HIM!!" Hope snarled now coming out from behind the tree and looking furious as whirlwind of snow swirled around her and whipped her hair around her face. She glared right at G. "Do not touch him!" 

G scoffed now turning to face her, his arms now folding across his chest. He looked amused while everyone else looked shocked. "Well, well. This is new. What happened to my timid mouse that you used to be, Hope? It sounds like you grew a backbone." He said in dark amusement. 

Hope glared at him as she stepped closer. "Leave them alone, G! Let them go! It's me you want, right?!" She demanded. 

G made an amused sound but shook his head. "Nope. But you're a tool of mine that I'm going to use. I want all monsters either dead or enslaved. You're going to help me." He said now stepping closer only to step back quickly as a sharp icicle shot straight up, almost I'm paling him. And he no longer looked amused. "Hope, you better watch yourself." He now growled. 

"Fuck you, G." Hope growled right back, her eyes narrowing. "I am not going to help you hurt my monsters! Or Gaster! I don't know what he did to make you mad, G, but if hurting my monsters is part of your little war, I will stop you!" 

G was now glaring at her as his eyes began to flash purple. "You will, Hope. Or I will kill your mother. Remember? I have......" he growled. 

Hope dipped her head down and she smiled coolly at him. "You don't have her any more, G. Someone took her from you." She said firmly. 

And G blinked now frowning. 

"Is that so? Who would do that then?" 

Hope just raised her hands and the snow began to swirl faster around her as she smirked back at him. "I don't know who he is. But I know for one thing, I'm going to help him stop you!" She now snapped before lashing out her hand, sending icicles now flying at the skeleton monster who flashed in purple magic. 

He vanished, teleporting out of the way. 

Hope stiffened. 

"So that's how it's going to be, huh? Looks like I will have to punish you for your insolence." G growled into her ear. 

Whipping around, Hope lashed out again with her hand, sending ice flying at him and then using her other hand, she flung chunks of earth and snow up at him. She was sorely disappointed when he managed to dodge before lashing out his own hand at her. 

Purple glowing bones materialized in the air and flew at Hope and she moved to dodge, only to be clipped by one of them in the shoulder. She felt sheering pain struck right up her arm like a burn and it made her scream.

"HO-HOPE!" Blue cried before struggling to get up. It just didn't help that he was shoved back down into the snow being pinned down by one of the humans watching. 

Stretch was doing G all he could to try and move but with whatever was in the darts, it was making any kind of movement hard to do anything. He could watch helplessly as Hope did all she could to fight this monster. 

Hope was dodging bones now, moving as quick as she could before earth and ice at G. She kept missing him because he was fast and he knew how she attacked. He had trained her after all. 

If only she had fire. 

Where was Grillby?! 

She could use some of his flames right about now.......

Her eyes widened at that thought and she dodged bones flying at her. She looked down at her chest and saw her necklace. Her vial. 

Her father's fire. 

Gritting her teeth, Hope grabbed the necklace and snapped it off. She applied as much pressure to the glass before breaking it and snapping her clutch onto the fire. She willed it with all her muster to build the fire up. 

And it worked. 

The fire grew in her hand, growing bigger before she looked right at G, who did pause in slight surprise at what she was doing. She just let the fire spread without burning before flinging it some of it at him in a massive fire ball, making it swirl at at him. 

G quickly moved to avoid the fire but a touch of it scrapped against his left arm, burning him and he growled in pain. 

"Well, this is a surprise." 

He turned to look at Hope, who now had fire, air, snow and earth swirling around her. Her eyes.....her usually amber colored eyes flared green like fire while her hair whipped around with the elements all around her. 

"You've gotten much stronger, I will admit. But you still cannot defeat me, Hope." G spoke again darkly before he raised his hands and summoned massive Gaster Blasters at his side. 

Hope would not deny that she was scared. She had seen what his Blasters have done before. She knew if she wasn't careful, she would be blasted alive. Or a misfire could hurt one of her friends. 

"G, what is wrong with you?! Why are you so angry?! Why are you trying to hurt these monsters?! They've done nothing to you!" Hope yelled as she sent the elements flying at him and his Blasters moved to intercept them, blasting away at them to his own protection. 

"I will not monologue as you distract me, Hope." G said coldly as he just stood there, his eye sockets burning with purple magic. "You will know in time what I will do. You are a True Soul. I need seven True Souls to make my plans complete. And you are the Kindness of the True Souls. So therefore, I will be taking your soul." 

And with that, he summoned a slightly smaller Blaster behind her. 

"HO-HOPE!! BEHIND YOU!!" Blue cried helplessly from where he was pinned. 

Hope spun around to see the Blaster and she moved to dodge, only to still get blasted in the shoulder by it. She screamed in pain as she collapsed as she felt her arm be sheer ed right off at the elbow. 

Collapsing in pain, she just laid there in snow, now clutching at her arm in horror and pain. Her arm......her left arm......it was gone at the elbow. And god, it hurt so badly. 

"......n-no........" Stretch murmured in his shock and pain to see how hurt she was now. He was fighting to move now. He struggled so hard as he watched Hope laid there, moaning and groaning in pain and sobbing.

G scoffed now dematerializing his Blasters and moving to step over to Hope, his hands at his side. He stood above her, looking down at her coldly. "You are not strong enough to beat me, Hope." He said blankly before he reached out with his hand above her. 

Hope cried out in pain as she felt something being tugged out of her and she watched with horror as her crystal like soul was pulled from her. "......no, please...." she begged softly and in pain. 

G just looked at her with lazy eye sockets and he reached out for her soul. "No amount of begging will save you, Hope. You're mine." He growled. 

"No, she isn't. And we won't let you succeed with what you're doing, Gaster Sans." 

Hope started at the whisper she heard and she even saw G stiffen, his eyes growing brighter as he whipped around, looking for that source of the voice. She knew that voice. She knew it. 

Ink. 

He was here somewhere. 

G began growled as he looked around wildly, and the Humans looked quite confused at him. They hadn't heard the voice like he and Hope did. It didn't even seem that the monsters had heard it because they looked confused at G as he whipped around, snarling. 

"YOU! WHERE ARE YOU, INK?!" G snarled as he jerked around, growling. 

There was a faint chuckle from all around them, echoing off the trees before a sound of static filled the air. Crackles and pops of an electronic device that struggled to boot up properly. 

"No where you will see me, G. But have you forgotten something already? Where I am.........my brother is sure to be....." Ink's voice echoed right to G, who stiffened with a growl. 

For the first time Hope had ever knew him, G looked worried. 

And suddenly, everything went black everywhere. 

It was like someone had just turned off all the lights, or rather dimmed everything until it was just so dark. The snow turned black and even shifted as if it was literately on a poor TV screen. The cavern roof turned dark gray and the glowing crystals took on a more black light effect. Glowing purple, Blue and neon colors flashing from them.

And in the very air.....a series of random numbers began to appear, moving slowly like a matrix, glowing neon green.

"Shit!" G snarled as he looked around, with everyone else. They all could see it, unlike before. 

It looked like the whole Underground had just inverted like a complete glitch of a computer. Error signs were popping up everywhere and moving in an erratic sequence that just stunned everyone else as they looked around. 

Hope, still clutching her arm, sat up a little, wincing at the pain before looking towards the edge of town where she literately could see black and white static forming. She just stared with horror and alarm as HE appeared. 

Growling, G must have seen it too and he whipped around to look at the skeleton now walking out of the static, his entire body was just wrong. 

A black boned skeleton with with a flashing red and blue t-shirt that seemed to shift rapidly like a malfunctioning sign. He was almost completely black and hard to see but his bones.....from black, they also flashed red rapidly.

His skeletal hands......they were mostly black but the tips were fiery red and orange. 

And his eye sockets, almost black......but there was a strange red glow deep inside his skull that made them glow sinisterly. A single neon blue eye in the left, and an orange pin prick of an eye light in the right. 

He wore all black but there was a glitchy light about them that flashed. His hooded jacket was black but the outline of a fur lining around the hood seemed to glow with fiery red and orange. 

This skeleton......who looked just like Blue.......he was completely wrong. 

He was a walking seizure warning, if anyone had to be honest of describing him. 

And he did have glowing white and gray words surrounding him, as if he was literately from a technological world......they read: ERROR. 

"Fuck!" G snarled as he glared at this glitching looking skeleton, who zeroed his eye lights right on him. "ERROR!!" 

A wide, glowing line formed at the skeleton ' s lower skull and a glowing orange and red grin spread, showing orange teeth. It was like someone put a glow stick or several in this skeleton ' s skull and it made him glow. 

"......hELlo.......G......" a crackling, static voice rang from the black skeleton. He even sounded like a walking, talking malfunction from a TV. "hOW'zzzzzzz aBoUt.....wE......PL-PL......pLaY.......?" 

Hope and her monsters just gaped at this strange looking Sans.


	17. Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Uesed:  
> Errorlovania-Jeffery Watkins

"You have no business being here, Error! Go away!" G growled as he faced the black skeleton. 

Error just grinned his fiery yellow smile at him, his blue eye lighting up brilliant and even flashing red. He seemed to even just flash and glitch right before them as he stepped closer.

".......sEEms......tO......Me-e-e.......YoU don't Be-EE-long here eiTHer, G." Error spoke, his very voice sounding scratchy and glitched. "....CouRse.......I liK-k-k-ke wHa-aT-t-t a doNe to tHe......PlAce......" he even looked around in admiration before turning his burning eyes onto G. "S-s-S-So, yAaa waNna leAvve-ve-ve nOW or dOooo yAaa waNNa d-d-do thIs ThE Ha-Ard wA-Ay? Ma-AAA-kes NO difference tO-O-o me whIcH W-w-A-ay yAaa chOOse." 

G growled as he narrowed his eye sockets at Error as he raised his hands, summoning purple bones all around him, as well as Gaster Blasters. "Go figures that Ink would send you! He can't even face me by himself, can he?!" He snapped earning a few confused looks from everyone else. 

Error shrugged in a very sarcastic way. "....P-f-f-ft. WhOooo knOOOws? InK-k-k is T-t-toOooo nICe fO-Or hIs-s-s o-o-o-Wn gOOd-d-d." He stuttered very badly. And he looked seriously at G. "Y-y-Ya-a-a gONNa teL-l-l me-e-e whERe m-m-m-Y kId is oR-R-rrrr dO-o-O I nEed t-t-tO be-eAt the shI-i-i-t ou-OU-out o-o-oF yA-a-a?" 

G growled at him but then delivered a dark smirk at Error. "You will never find Charlie again, Error. If you think I am going to give up my tools to you or Ink for that matter, you're more glitched than I thought." He said darkly. 

The growl that came from Error was haunting. It even sent shivers down Hope's spine as she winced from the sheering pain in her arm. 

".......tH-e-N, Im-Ma gOnNa ki-I-ill y-y-y-aAaaa." Error said before he pulled his hands out of his hoodie pockets and grinned wickly as glowing blue strings seemed to pour right out his fingers and blue tear stains formed on his face, like trails of glowing tears. 

Immediately, G reacted and dodged to the side as those strings whipped out at him. He teleported away as quickly as he could in purple flashes before flinging bones at Error. 

Lashing out his hand, Error sent strings flying towards one of the humans in lightning speed and grabbed him, wrapping those strings around him and yanked him right into the path of the bones. 

The human screamed but it was short lived as he was paled many times by the bones before falling dead to the ground. 

Hope flinched at the sight of so much blood before she looked around at the other humans as strings began lashing at them and doing the same to them, using them as shields from G's attacks. 

It went to show that G had no care for the humans he lead. 

But one thing was for sure, this was terrifying.

This Error........even if he was probably the help that Ink sent just like he said he was going to.....he was terrifying. 

Especially as he lashed out at the humans with no remorse whatsoever. He didn't even hesistated to use them as shields against G. He showed no love for them, even if they were enemies. He was cackling in a static way as G sliced through them with bones. 

No, he might have been there to help in some dark way, but he did not care for humans and Hope could see it. 

Hope hissed again at the sheering pain in her arm as she shifted and she cried out in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was hyperventilating as she clutched at her bleeding arm, seeing that it wasn't bleeding as bad as she thought. And when she looked, she did see that most of the stump was burned. 

So in some way, G had burned her enough so she wouldn't bleed to death. 

".......Ho-Hope......" 

Hope looked up to see Stretch looking at her with pain and she knew he was trying to fight the serum that was in his systems, blocking his movement and his magic. He was struggling to reach for her. 

"St-Stretch......" Hope murmured in pain and started to crawl towards him. 

However there was a flash of rainbow colors right in front of her and she gasped, throwing herself backwards and crying out in pain as she jostled her hurt arm. 

With fear in her eyes, she looked up at who now blocked her path, standing over her and she blinked in surprise to see the somewhat small skeleton standing over her with one yellow eye and the other blue in the eye sockets. 

Another Sans look alike. 

Only this one, about the same size of Blue, he was different. He was......small and slender in some way, dressed in brown and tan clothes that had rainbow colored paint staining his clothes. 

In fact......he had a belt round his brown waist pants that had......crayons hooked them like grenades or such. He even had a strap with paint bottles hooked on them, across his sternum, connecting with a pouch hanging on his waist that seemed to be filled with parchment and paper. A brown cape hung from his slender shoulders, which had splatters of paint on the end. A sky blue hoodie was tied around his waist, even having been stained with ink and paint in some blotches. 

On his face, near his right eye socket, he had black ink staining his skull on his cheek bone. 

He was.....nice looking, actually. He actually looked concerned about her as he raised fingerless gloved hands in the air as if to calm her fear. 

"It's okay, Hope. It's me!" He spoke with that recently familiar voice that made her blink in surpruse. 

Hope gaped at him, knowing his voice. "In-Ink?!" She asked in bewilderment. 

Ink nodded now smiling softly at her as he was slow to bending down beside her. "Yeah. I'm Ink." He said to her before tilting his skull around to hear Stretch growling. He was fully aware that he could be seen by him and he was growling at him to protect Hope. He gave the tall skeleton a small smile before looking back at Hope, now reaching for her, pausing when she flinched. 

"I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help. Let's see if we can't fix your arm." Ink said softly before he reached out again but more slowly.

Forcing herself to relax but crying out when he gently took her arm, Hope shuddered and closed her eyes tightly. She didn't know how this could be fixed. Her arm was completely gone. The rest had been vaporized by G's Blaster. 

"Ow....ow...." Hope cried out as she felt his cool fingers on her. 

"I'm sorry. I know it hurts but stay very still." Ink said gently and she looked at him with pain. 

Ink looked at her arm carefully before looking at her other arm. He seemed to be concentrating very hard, taking it in very carefully. Studying it before he smiled and nodded. 

Looking back at Hope with his multicolored eyes, Ink reached at his belt and pulled out a tan crayon. And that made Hope just stared as he reached it out and tapped her other arm. 

To her shock, the color changed a little to the same color of her skin. 

Hope gaped in shock as Ink took the crayon, which began to glow. She watched him begin swiping the air right in front of her and lines began to form. He even pulled off a paint brush that had been on his belt and vegan painting. He was coloring the very air in front of her and drawing something......

To her shock and bewilderment, Ink drew an arm. A left arm right in the air. It looked so real too. Just like her old arm she had just lost. 

"What the hell?!" Hope blurted out in shock as she stared at the arm. 

Ink chuckled as he finished drawing the now very real arm efore he grabbed it and placed it right at her stump. "Okay. Brace yourself. This one is going to hurt a bit. Gotta reattach it to you and it will sting mighty bad." He said gently begore he pushed the arm against her stump, making her scream. 

Hope did everything she could not to flinch or thrash but it couldn't be helped. It hurt so badly as she felt the drawn arm push hard against her stump before she cried out again as Ink now covered the sheer cut in between her stump and the arm with his hands. 

Eye sockets closing, Ink held her arm carefully but tightly before rainbow colored light surrounded him and Hope's arm. He grimaced a little when Hope choked in pain but he pushed his magic into her. 

Hope gasped softly as she literately watched her stump and the new drawn arm meld together, healing and becoming one. She could only stare in pain and shock as they became one and the same. 

The pain.....it even started to melt away as she felt her use of the new arm gain to her control. 

A moment later, she was one with the arm and the pain was gone. 

Ink opened his eye sockets and smiled now carefully poking at her new arm before nodding in satisfaction when she reacted to feeling it. And then he smiled at her. 

"Ho-ho-how did......?!" Hope asked in complete bewilderment. 

Ink shrugged now shifting back, smiling warmly at her. "It's kind of what I do. In some way.....I'm kind of a creator and healer. It's all magic. I can explain it later when I come get you. But right now, I've got to erase myself again so G doesn't see me. Error is keeping his attention away from us right now because I needed to help you. If he sees me, he will attack me. And I can't let him get to me." He told her before finally standing up. 

Hope shifted herself now looking over to see quite the battle going on between Error and G. They were thrashing the entire area and it seemed that the black skeleton had some kind of power of control over the humans now in his strings because they were now attacking G, and by the looks of it, not by their will. 

"Who are you two?" Hope asked now looking at Ink who stood up and placed his hands on his waist. "Why do you both look like Sans?!" 

Ink shrugged again with a sigh. "It's really hard to explain and we don't have time right now for me to explain. I'll tell you later. Error is going to use you next, Hope. Just let him take control of you. He won't hurt you. He is just going to use you to fight G." 

Hope now looked uneasy. "Uh....." she murmured. 

Ink smiled faintly. "It's going to sting a little when he takes control of you but I promise, it will be okay. Your magic.....you're a True Soul and this is your fight with G. Error is just.....well...he is gonna enhance your magic a little so you can beat G. You won't be strong to completely take him down but it will immobilize him and he will have no choice but to retreat out of here. And then reset so you can kick all of them out. And bring your dad back to life." 

Hope's heart nearly stopped as she looked at him with watery eyes. "Wh-What?" She asked stunned. 

Ink looked at her with sympathy. "G.....uh....he kind of Dusted Grillby because he attacked the human, Timothy. Timothy....uh, kind of told Papyrus, here that he.....was the one who.....hurt you." He said grimacing. "Kind of made Grillby mad. So G killed him." He then looked concerned when Hope gave a painful choke. He reached out and touched her shoulders. "It's okay! Once you reset, it'll be all right! He will be back!" 

Hope sniffed and wiped at her weeping eyes. "O-okay." She then looked right at Ink, who offered a gentle smile. "Can.....I know I promised to come with you after all of this. But....but can I have one day with them before I leave with you?" She asked weakly, motioning to the monsters behind him. She was sure they hadn't heard. 

Ink blinked a few times as he glanced behind him before looking at her again, smiling softly. He bobbed his skull. "Yeah. I can hold G off from this Underground for one day. He will be back once you're gone but don't worry. Error is going to stick around and help your Papyrus and Sans. He will help them because they will remember everything. Everyone else might not but they need to remember what happened. They need to go somewhere after all of this."

"Wh-where?" Hope asked in concern. 

Ink just smiled as he grabbed something from his belt again, a huge eraser?! 

"They've got to go find W.D. Gaster and the original Sans and Papyrus." The little colorful skeleton said and Hope looked surprised at his words. "I'll explain everything later. It'll make more sense when we have the time. But don't worry. Your Stretch and Blueberry, they'll be fine and they will see you agin. I gotta go now! I'll be back after one day!" 

And with that, Ink swiped the erase up and down, making Hope stare in bewilderment as he literately erased himself from existence before her. 

He was gone.

Hope just stared before she shook her head. She didn't understand anything that just happened but she hoped she would soon enough. She looked at her arm, her new arm and touched it. It felt real enough. She pinched herself and felt the slight pain. 

She couldn't believe that Ink could do that. He literately recreated her arm and put it back on. 

That......that was real magic. Unbelievable magic but surely magic. It was amazing.

"Ho-Hope!" 

Turning, Hope looked over at Stretch, who was barely able to move. He was pushing himself up, and struggling a little bit. He definitely looked very tired and worn out by everything.

"Stretch!" Hope said now scampering over to him and dropping down to her knees next to him, now grabbing his arm to help him. "I mean, Papyrus.........I'm sorry! I am sorry! I know you hate me for lying......!" She was saying. 

But Stretch grabbed by her arm and pulled her close, cutting her off by kissing her hard and passionately. He pulled away a second later, leaning his skull against her forehead. "N-no......I'm sorry for....being an asshole....I'm know why you did it now. I sh - should have just listened to you. I'm sorry. And I love you." He told her softly. 

Tears filled her eyes, Hope smiled back before kissing him back. "I love you too, Stretch. I am so sorry though. G is here because it's my fault. But I'm going to make this right. I swear." She told him. 

Stretch tightened his grip on her now looking worried. "No......don't. He will hurt you. Please, just give me a minute. I'll face him again....." he was saying. 

Hope shook her head, now tugging away from him and even as he struggled to hold on to her, she pulled away. "No. He's too strong for you and maybe me. But," she paused looking at her arm. "That guy, that you just saw take care of this, he said he and the other one are here to help us." 

Stretch frowned looking over her shoulder at the fight before grimacing as he saw Error cackling as he dodged G's Blasters. "That guy......he looks fucking crazy! Why did they both look like Sans?" He asked omewhat weirded out. 

Hope shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. Why G look like you and Sans? This has something to do with Gaster, Stretch. If anything happens to me, you've got to find him. Find Gaster and find out what is going on. I think this is bigger than we think!" She said feeling the panic of knowing she had to leave striking through her again as she stood up. 

Stretch tried to reach for her again, to stop her. "Nothing is gonna happen to you, Hope! I will protect you!" He said now frantic. He had picked up her panic and he didn't like it. 

"Just promise me you will find your father and find out what's going.......!" Hope was saying before she gasped sharply as she felt something strike against her. 

Her soul.......

Her soul had snapped right out of her chest and she looked wide eyed at it. It hovered right there in front of her, covered and tied up in blue strings. She couldn't move. She felt frozen in place, as if something took control of her. And it did sting. 

Error ' s string. 

".......mINd if I boRROw....yOUr gliTch....." a sinister, crackling voice spoke out directly from behind Hope's almost right in her ear, before she was yanked backwards with a squeak. 

"Hope!" Stretch cried out now trying to stand, only to stumble and catch himself in the snow from face plant g. 

Hope suddenly found herself standing in the snow, right between G and Error. She knew it was what Ink warned her of. She was going to be used against G by the black skeleton. 

G was growling, looking quite angry as he looked at Hope and then past her at Error. "You're going to use Hope as one of your puppets, Error?!" He demanded begore scoffing. "She is weak! You'll never beat me with her!" 

Error crackled behind Hope as he held up his hands with the strings tied around his fingers before twitching one and Hope suddenly found herself moving against her own will. 

"dOn'T knOW......'bOUt.....thAT, G. I......thInK.....shE-e-e miGHt be sTRO-nger thAn......yo-yo-yoU thInk......" Error crackled from behind Hope. "he-HEy, glITch-ch-ch-ch. I her-heARd-d-d ya-ya-yAaaa liK-k-k-ke t-tO DA-da-dAnce. S-S-So-o-o le-le-leT's-s-s mAKe.....yA-a-a -a DAn-Ce-ce." 

And suddenly, without her control, Hope found herself swirling on her heel. She began dancing, spinning around quickly that created a massive whirlwind of snow all around her, picking up snow chunks and throwing them hard and fast at G.

G snarled as he dodged before sending bones flying towards Error. 

A flick of Error's finger, Hope dipped elegantly like a ballerina before sweeping her arm up faster. Chunks of Earth split the ground, shooting upwards to shield Error and herself from the bones that slammed into her shield.

A jerk of his hand, Error sent Hope leaping high into the air, spinning with earth chunks and snow spinning around her and being thrown again at G, who teleported out of the way quickly. 

There was a loud electronic pop as electrified bones sped past Hope and her chunks of earth and ice went flying with them.

Eye sockets flaring purple, G lashed out a hand, which was coated in purple magic, seizing something to the side and yanking it over to be right in the way of the attacks. 

Hope's heart skyrocketed to see a terrified Blue right in the way. "NO!" She screamed as she watched her magic nearly hit Blue. 

Error just scoffed but did not try and pull the magic back. He just smirked. ".......AIn't goNNa sTOp uS-s-s wiTH THaT oNe-ne-ne, G." He merely said chuckling darkly. 

However, the chunks of ice and earth went flying sideways and did block the electrifying bones, sending them barreling elsewhere. 

Error blinked before looking at Hope, who was panting hard as she had forced her hand upward, pushing as much of her control she could to stopping Error's bones. 

".......'EY! WH-wh-whaA-WHAT yA-a-a doing?!" Error growled at her. 

Hope turned her head to send the skeleton a look. "......n-not hu-hurting them......." she forced out. 

Error growled but shook his head before he yanked his strings and forced Hope to turn around again to face G. He controlled her to throw the chunks again, to sending flying at Blue and G. 

But this time, it was orange magic surrounding Blue and yanking him right out of the way and out of G's control. 

Hope barely looked over at Stretch to his eye sockets glowing fiery orange and his hand engulfed in orange as he yanked his brother out of the way as the chunks nearly hit G. 

G managed to dodge this time, but he did start to look worn down a little as he glared around at Stretch, then to Hope and then Error. "This ends now!" He growled before raising his hands and summoning Gaster Blasters to shoot right at Hope and Error. He didn't seem to care she was in the way this time.

Blast after blast went at Hope and she found herself spinning and twirling not by her own will to dodge as blasts came at her rather fast. She was flipping in the air, leaping and dodging the blasts as was Error, who was growling as some of the blasts came close to hitting even him. 

Suddenly, orange colored Gaster Blasters surrounded Hope, now taking some of the blasts before delivering their own at G, who began moving quickly, jumping and dodging and teleporting out of the way. 

Orange bones, Blue bones, electrified bones, purple bones s were flying everywhere now as both Stretch and Blue were now joining in, trying to attack G.

Growling, G had so many purple bones now spinning around himself as he found himself being attacked at all sides from four enemies of his. 

"Damn it!" He merely growled before he began moving backwards away from all of the attacks. He found himself almost trapped now by so many bones. 

Hope found some of Error's control over her was now slipping. She could feel he was starting to tire from controlling her to flipping and leaping in the air. 

A string broke and her arm was freed. 

Hope gritted her teeth as she took control of her magic, flinging up her arm to send earth, ice, fire and and air flying through the air, now swirling together like a vortex. She threw with all her might at G, who snarled angrily before his eyes flashed violent purple and a black rip appeared right behind him.

Jumping through it, G jumped into blackness before the rip closed up with a purple flash, leaving them all just standing there now with only a handful of humans just gaping in shock as he abandoned them. 

Panting, Hope was dumped on the ground and shuddering in soreness now. She felt the strings just let her go, letting her collapse. 

"Hope!" 

Shuddering in exhaustion, Hope looked right up at Stretch as he hurried over to her and gathered her up into his arms. She clutched onto him, flinching G a little as she felt someone else smack right into them. She barely even had to look to see that it was Blue. 

"Gu-guys....." Hope said smiling weakly before she looked over at Error, who was grinning not at her but at the humans, now moving towards them with his living strings snapping and black, white and red staticky Gaster Blasters forming around the humans, who were now crying in fear as they backed away. 

And it wasn't just the humans that the Blasters were now aiming at. 

They were even aiming at them and the other monsters, who were trying to draw back in alarm as the Blasters moved towards them.

"......Hope, reset now." Hope heard Ink's voice whisper right into her ears. It sounded like he was standing right beside her. "Error's kind of....um.....gonna kill everyone right now. And not just the humans. Like I said, he's not the most stable guy and he's kind of lost it." 

Hope panting, nodded before prying her arm free from Stretch ' s grip. She looked him right in the eyes as she swiped her hand, forming the Reset. 

Stretch blinked at her before smiling faintly and nodding as he let her go, even having to pry a shaking Blue off of her. "See ya on the other side of the Reset, Honey." He told her in understanding. 

Hope nodded before pressing her hand down on the Reset. 

There was a loud whoosh from all around the entire area and a scowl from Error as he turned a glare onto her.

".......g-gl-gli-glitch......." he grumbled with a pout. 

And then it flashed a brilliant white before darkening into black. 

The timeline reset.


	18. Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally fluff and smut.......

Everything came to Hope quickly this time as she woke up, once again in the Ruins. She was on the bed of golden flowers, just laying there, in the clothes she last wore. 

Gasping, she got up quickly, remembering everything that had happened. 

G. 

The Luminosity of Gaia. 

Stretch and Blueberry. 

Ink. 

And Error. 

Her Reset.

A gasp caught in her throat as Hope scampered to her feet and she was already booking it as fast as she could through the cavern chamber. She needed to see if it worked. 

Her father.......Grillby! 

He had been killed in the last timeline and she reset to right things. To bring him back to life and knock the Luminosity right out of her Underground. 

She needed to find out if it worked like Ink said it would! She needed to see her father! And Stretch and Blueberry! 

Running into the black crystal chamber, running past a startled Flowey and not stopping to see if he remembered, Hope ran as fast as her feet could carry her.

Running through the Ruins, Hope ran past startled monsters; Froggits, Whimsuns, Loox, spiders, Asgore. She knew that it was safe for now because they were there. 

They were safe from G and the Luminosity for now until they returned. 

But was her father, Grillby safe? 

Bursting through Asgore ' s house and hearing him call after her, she dashed down the stairs into the basement and ran through the corridor until she came to the large door. She pushed with all of her might, trying to get through to the icy cold of the Winter Woods. 

Hope slipped through the door into the Winter wonderland and began running through the snow as fast as she could. She ran and ran, past the winter monsters. Past the sentry post where Stretch was suppose to be but wasn't. 

She ran past Blue's traps until she came to that clearing where she knew where Grillby's house was suppose to be. 

And there he was.

Grillby was at the large bonfire, at his little shack, waving and dancing to the flames. He looked the same as he did before she came to the Underground. He was wearing his ragged clothes, as if nothing ever happened with her being there. 

So it was more and likely he didn't know who she was. He probably didn't remember her because of her Reset. 

But she didn't care. 

Hope just gasped and panted as she ran for him, not stopping when he turned around, looking surprised. She didn't stop until she skidded right to a halt right in front of him and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his homely warm chest. 

She felt his surprise but she didn't let go. 

She just sobbed, shaking as she held onto him. 

"I kn-know you don't rem-remember me! But I'm so glad to s-see you, Grillby!" Hope sobbed as she clutched onto him.

Slowly, Grillby wrapped his arms around her and hugged back. He even rest his own head against hers, never burning her or her hair as he he tightened his hold onto her. He chuckled warmly as he just held her. 

"How could I ever forget my daughter, Hope." He spoke softly. 

Hope gasped now pulling away from him, looking up at him as she saw tears trailing down his fiery face and evaporating as they went. "You remember me?!" She asked with happiness. 

Grillby nodded as he reached up and cupped her face with his hands, warming her greatly as he placed a kiss onnher head. "I remember everything." He told her gently. "And I'm so glad you're okay." 

Hope cried softly, wiping at her teary eyes. "I'm so sorry for lying to you and everyone. I'm so so sorry. And my mom......Opaline......" she sobbed softly. 

"I'm know, Hope. I know the truth. I heard Papyrus talking with that horrible human, Timothy. He admitted that Opaline is alive and that G has her." Grillby said and crackled a little defensively. "We will figure out how to save......"

Hope shook her head, smiling. "G doesn't have her any more, Dad." She smiled when he looked at her in surprise. "She's safe. I....met someone who does have her. At least that's what he said. And....he does seem really nice. He helped us before I reset." She even looked at her left arm, touching it. She gasped softly when she realized something. 

The birthmark.......Grillby's mark! 

It was gone! 

"Oh, shit!" Hope blurted out now touching her arm with horror. "My mark! Ink didn't know there was......!" 

Grillby frowned looking at her arm in confusion, seeing his mark was in deed gone. That was unusual. But what made it more unusual was when a new mark suddenly to appear and even he had to step back in surprise when Hope gasped. 

A new flame mark began to appear, as if someone was drawing it. It.....however was in rainbow colors. It was literately glowing in rainbow.

"What in the world......?!" Grillby yelped as he stepped back in surprise.

Hope touched the mark that had formed before looking around. "Ink?" She asked. 

There was a flash of rainbow and Ink was there, smiling at her. He did step back when Grillby growled a little but did not lose his friendly look. "Hi, Hope. Sorry, I forgot about the birthmark. I hope that works. But you don't have to worry. Your father's protection is still with you, with or without the mark. His magic is apart of you. So is his protection. It's never left, even with the mark gone. I kind of added a little bit of my own, if you don't mind. Protection, I mean." He said in his smooth, young voice. 

Hope smiled faintly as she dropped her arm before frowning again in concern. "I.....I thought you said I could have....." she was saying, fully aware of the look of confusion from her father. 

Ink nodded smiling faintly. "I promised you one day, Hope. You still get it. I'm just only keeping an eye socket on things while G is gone. He.....I don't think he is going to be coming back right away like I thought he would. That fight.....it really wore him out." He said frowning now. 

"Hope, what is this? What does he mean you get one day?" Grillby asked now concerned. 

Hope and Ink both looked at him now frowning softly but she sighed softly and stepped into his arms again. "I'm leaving, Dad." She said softly. 

Grillby suddenly tightened his grip on her. "What?" He murmured in dread. 

"It's not forever. I will come back. I promise." Hope said as she looked up at him. "Ink.....he says if I stay here, G will keep coming back for me. He will keep hurting all of you until he has my soul." 

Grillby crackled as he tightened his grip with a more protective feel. "No. You're not going anywhere! I won't let you....." he growled now turning a look onto Ink, who smiled sadly. 

"Dad." Hope said as she pulled away and grabbed his face, holding him gently. "I promise, I will be safe. But I have to do this. If G hurts you again, I will never forgive myself." 

Ink nodded softly before he pulled out a small book from his pouch and offered it to Grillby, who hesistated from taking it. "This is where I will be taking her. This book.....think of it like texting her on a phone, only with a book. You can write in it and she will write you back to let you know she is safe. She can talk to you any time." He told him gently. "My world.....my alternate dimension.....it's a safe place. G can't even go there. He's tried but he can't get there. It'll be the safest place for her." 

"Wh-why are you taking her?" Grillby said taking the book with a shaking hand. 

Ink shook his head but placed one hand on his thinnwaist. "To keep her safe and away from G. He needs her for something." He said shrugging halfheartedly. 

Hope now looked at him frowning. "Ink......tell me. What is it that G is trying to do? What does he want? And what do you mean an alternate dimension?" She asked alter arm still around her father. 

Ink took a deep breath before letting it out again. "Okay. I am Sans from my world. It's called Inktale. It's an alternate dimension, just like your world is. It was created by W.D. Gaster by accident. He went and messed with some magic that he shouldn't have. He created all of us. We are all copies.....or clones, I guess from the original dimension. Undertale." He said firmly. 

Hope and Grillby stared in surprise at him. 

"So.....you're Sans.......from another dimension?" Hope asked in stunned stupor. 

Ink nodded still looking firm. "Gaster.....he was messing with a forbidden magic source in Undertale. I can't tell you the exact details of what he did but he messed with time and space magic in his world. And did a lot of things he really shouldn't have. No, he wasn't exactly nice but he wasn't bad either. He made mistakes and did hurt a lot of people. Humans and monsters, at the same." He then frowned glancing away as if he was looking at something. 

"Wh-what?" Hope asked seeing his concentrated look. 

"I can kind of.....see him. I only see flashes because in a way I'm kind of connected to him." Ink said, his eye sockets narrowing in hard concentration. "I can't see where he is but.....he is doing something.....really bad right now. But I got a feeling karma is going to come swinging at him. I think.....I think he might be in Undertale, where he actually belongs. I can't see him clearly."

"So.....you know where he is." Hope said blinking. 

Ink nodded, still looking a little distracted before blunking and grimacing. "Oh, yeah. I know where he is. And what he....what he kind of is doing. He is messing with the original Sans and making him mad by messing with his True Soul." He remarked. 

Hope frowned and tilted her head curiously. "You mean, I'm not the only True Soul?" She asked with bright eyes. 

Ink finally looked at her, shaking his head. "Each dimension has one. You're the True Soul of Underswap. Your Papyrus is a mirror swapped version of me, or rather of the original Sans. It's why he remembers all of the time lines and resets and everyone else doesn't." He told her before sighing as he looked at Grillby, who did look quite confused. "Grillby, I know you want to keep Hope safe. But she isn't safe here. G will keep coming again and again. No matter how many times she resets. He will get her eventually and if he does, everything is lost. I have to take her back to my dimension. It's the only place G can't set foot into. And believe he has tried. Because I meddle a lot with what he does. Me and my brother, Error."

Hope blinked at him. "Error? He's your brother? But why are you both Sans then?" She asked frowning. "Don't you have a Papyrus?: 

Ink shrugged. "Yeah, we do. But they're not like us. They don't know about the other dimensions like me and Error. They're just there as our twin brothers. It's me and Error who are true brothers in our world. We are twins and it's why we look like each other. It was some idea that Gaster had when he was in our dimension. He wondered what would happen if he made two Sans' of Inktale. I'm not going to lie. It kind of messed Error up pretty bad with what Gaster did to him while experimenting. It's why he isn't the most stable guy. Gaster did something bad to him and I can't really say it. It kind of hurts to remember that." He said glumly.

Grillby sighed before looking at Hope. "And you swear she will be safe?" He asked seriously. 

Ink nodded as he smiled faintly. "Yes. And if she's not, if somehow G gets into my dimension, he has to face Error. Error is just like me. He can get into other dimensions just like I can without taking some long way to get in. And G doesn't like facing him because Error.....he's.....he's tough. And I mean really, really tough." He looked at Hope. "You saw it, didn't you? What Error can do?" 

Hope frowned but nodded. "Error's strings.......he can take control over someone. Just like he did with me when fighting G. Can he do that to G?" She asked. 

Ink nodded. "Yeah, he can. As long as G has his soul. But you didn't see it, did you? When you were fighting him. G doesn't keep his soul on his own self. He's the only one of us, the Sans' and Papyrus' that can separate himself with his soul. It's why he seems so emotionless every time you meet him. He doesn't have his soul on him. I don't know where it is but I'm pretty sure he keeps his soul out of himself because of Error. Keeps it locked up in some other dimension he has been in all this time. If Error can get his cables, which is his strings, on his soul, he could make G do whatever he wants him to do." 

"And that.....would be bad?" Hope asked a little skeptical. 

Ink grimaced but nodded. "Yeah, actually it would. Like I said, Error isn't completely right in the skull. What Gaster did to him, he's crazy because of it. And Error.....he...um, he would do bad things. I'm a creator. He's a destroyer. We counter react to each other on equal ground. But the only reason why we are working together right now is because G took Charlie from us." He told her. 

"Charlie?" Hope asked tilting her head. 

Ink nodded, smiling sadly. "Yeah. Charlie. He was our True Soul from our dimension. He's a little boy, maybe about ten, eleven. He's really smart and artistic. I think that's why Error likes him. Because he is really smart for a kid and Error.....yeah, he's pretty intelligent. He can hold an intelligent conversation with Charlie. At first, Error tried to hurt him because of crazy he can get. But when he found out how smart Charlie was, he began talking to him. He made friends with Error and me. And Charlie went missing, Error took it really bad. In some way, I think Charlie was fixing Error. Undoing everything that Gaster did to him. And when Charlie went missing and we found out it was G who is responcible....."

"Error snapped." Hope said in dawning. 

Ink nodded as he looked at her. "He snapped. He is obsessed with finding Charlie. That boy is the only person Error cares about and he won't care who gets hurt in the process of finding him." He told her and Grillby. 

"Okay. And that's why you need my help?" Hope asked. 

"That, and more. G is doing something bad. He is gathering all of the True Souls for something, Hope. You, Charlie and whoever else. From each alternate dimension. And it has something to do with Gaster." Ink told her. "I need your help because if he gets you, he is one step closer to doing something. I don't know what it is yet but I will find out. And that's why I need you to come to my dimension. To stay away from G."

Hope sighed before looking at Grillby, who looked back at her sadly. "I get one day, Dad. And then I have to go. I will be back though. I promise. And I'm going where mom is. He has her." She looked at Ink, uncertainly. "Right?" 

Ink immediately nodded as he pointed at the book. "Say hi to her. She's safe back at my place. I'll keep her there if you want me to. She'll be safe there." He said and even pulled off one of his crayons to offer to Grillby. 

Grillby hesistated to taking the crayon before opening the book. He even glanced at Hope as she leaned closer to him, eyes drawn to the book with anticipation. 

Taking a deep breath of air, the Fire Elemental pressed the crayon to an empty page of paper and wrote: Opaline? This is Grillby. 

The words sat there for a moment before sinking into the book, vanishing from sight. It was like they were erased and never existed.

A moment later, words began to write their selves on the page as if an invisible hand wrote them. 

'Hey, Firefly.' 

Grillby gasped softly and even choked as tears began to spill and evaporate. He even bent over a little now clutching onto the book as if it was his most prized possession now.

"Dad?" Hope asked in concern. 

Giving her a smile, Grillby shook his head now wiping at his eyes as he held the book up. "Your mother used to call me that. And only she did. No one else knew that nickname. It was just our name." He told her before looking at the book again. 

He wrote: I miss you, Paulie.

"Paulie?" Hope asked now giggling as she looked at Grillby and he nodded laughing. 

'I miss you too, Firefly. Seeing you are contacting me through the book, I guess you've met Ink Sans then. You can trust him. He is a good boy, Firefly. If Hope is there, tell her I love her. And I miss her.' The words came back. 

Grillby smiled at Hope and offered her the book and crayon. "Would you like to say it yourself?" He asked her. 

Hope nodded and took the book and crayon before writing: I'm here, mom. Ink is going to bring me there soon. I'll see you soon.

There was a pause before the words came to her through the book. 

'I'll see you soon then, love.' 

Ink made a sound that got their attention before he looked off. "I better go. Papyrus is coming. He knows you're here, Hope." He turned back to her, smiling softly and he pulled off that large eraser from his belt. "I will meet you back here tomorrow morning. A little early before most of the other monsters here are awake. Enjoy your day, Hope. And I promise, you will come back. And you'll more and likely see Papyrus sooner or later. If he goes with Error to find Gaster, it'll be more than likely he will bring him and everyone else to us, to our dimension. But for now, I'll leave you with your family." He told her. 

Hope nodded as she held the book out back to Grillby. She did feel the anxiety of the thought of leaving this Underground, this....universe. And it did scare her. 

But.....it was to keep all of her loved ones safe from G. 

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then, Ink." Hope said in a small voice. 

Smiling softly at her, Ink raised the eraser and swiped down. He was suddenly gone, erasing himself from view. 

Sighing, Hope shared a look with her father. "Don't tell Stretch, Dad. Please. It'll hurt more if he knows. Error....Ink's brother will help him come find me." She told him. 

Grillby nodded solemnly as he took the book and tucked it into his inner jacket. He didn't like it but it was Hope's choice. "I'll keep it quiet unless it's necessary to tell him. But you have to let me know how you are doing. Check in every week if you can." He said tapping the now hidden book.

Nodding, Hope understood what he meant. She would keep that promise while being wherever she was going. She would miss him greatly until she came back.

However, before they could continue with the conversation, Stretch appeared with an orange flash, looking like he ran a mile to get there.

One look at Hope, he was immediately next to her, grabbing her and pulling her into a tight embrace. He was shaking as he wrapped her up into his arms. "Hope." He sighed almost breathlessly.

Hope felt her tears spilling again but she clutched onto his orange hoodie, breathing in his scent. She felt so happy just being in his arms right now. She just wanted to stay there, in his arms for a long time. 

"God, I thought I lost you this time. I'm sorry for being a dick to you." Stretch said now pulling away. 

Hope shook her head as she smiled at him. "I lied to you, Stretch. I'm just sorry that I......" she gasped softly when he just cut her off by kissing her and she melted right into his arms, kissing him back. 

"HOPE!!" 

Jerking away from Stretch, Hope smiled brightly as she heard that loud boisterous voice. She turned just in time to catch Blue as he leapt into the air, his arms wrapped around her tightly as he hugged her. 

Laughing as she fell back a little, only to be caught by Stretch, she hugged Blue right back as he nuzzle her face with his skull. He did have large tears streaming down his face but the biggest grin ever. 

"HOPE! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!" Blue wailed as he just hugged her.

Hope laughed as she hugged him tightly before pressing her head against his, looking into his blue eyes. "I'm glad you're okay too, Blue. I would never forgive myself if something happen to you. And I am so sorry for what happened. I feel terrible." She said now somewhat safly. 

Blue shook his head as he looked into her eyes before hugging her again. "DON'T! IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT! YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE YOUR MOM!! WE DON'T BLAME YOU FOR TRYING TO PROTECT HER, DO WE, PAPPY?!" He said brightly. 

Stretch smiled and shook his head as he wrapped his arms around both Hope and his little brother. "No, we don't. We don't blame you at all, Hope." He then frowned and looked at her. "G is going to come back, isn't he?" He asked seriously.

And the mood was over. 

Hope sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I think he will. But I think he might take his time coming back. That fight with all of us facing him, and Error......it wore him out. I think he is going to be more careful about coming back." She said repeating what Ink had said before. 

Stretch frowned as he shared a glance with his brother. Both of them looked confused. "Who was that and why did he look like my bro?" The tall brother asked. 

"I don't know, Stretch. But I don't think it will be the last we see him. He might come back. Probably to help us again. But we have to be careful with him. He doesn't like G but I think he will help us. All I know is this has something to do with Gaster. Your dad. Gaster did something with his science and magic. We have to find out what he was doing." Hope said. 

Stretch nodded as he took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. "Yeah. I think we should go start at his old lab. The sooner we know what we are up against, the sooner we can be ready for G again. Let's go Undyne's lab. She has all of Gaster ' s research locked up." He told her. 

And Hope nodded, looking at Grillby, a little weakly. 

Grillby just smiled sadly and nodded. "Go. I'll just see you when you come back. I think for now......" he paused touching his chest pocket. "I'm going to do a little writing for a change. Make some memories. I love you, Hope." He told her. 

Exhaling a shaky breath, Hope let go of Stretch and went to hug him tightly, which he returned. She held him for a long moment, knowing this was going to get the goodbye she was going to get with him until she actually came back. She knew it. He knew it.

"I love you, Grillby.......Dad." She whispered.

Holding onto each other for a moment longer, they finally pulled away and Hope went back to a now frowning Stretch and Blue, taking her boyfriend's hand. "Okay. Let's go." 

"What was that about?" Stretch asked now somewhat suspiciously. 

Hope just shook her head , smiling at him. "I'm just....I just am so glad he is alive. Just hearing he died in the last timeline......it kind of scared me. Still does. I don't want to lose him again." She told him, half lying and hating it that she was going to have to lie again to Stretch. 

But for his own good. 

Smiling faintly, Stretch wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close before taking Blue's other hand. "You're not going to lose him again. I will see to that. Now let's go." He said and he teleported them to Hotland. 

To say the least, Hope was so happy to see Undyne and Alphys and Napstabot when they got to Hotland and they were so happy to see her. They all gave her tight hugs in the whole ordeal. 

And then they went down to the True Lab in Undyne's lab. 

But what they found there.....it shocked all of them. 

The True Lab was in ruins. 

It had been completely destroyed, ripped apart. Someone had broken in and ripped it apart. Papers were strung around the place. Cabinets were torn into and smoldering as if something hot had blasted them. 

But the research they went to find......it was gone. 

"Fucking hell!" Stretch growled as he glared around the lab. 

"SWEAR JAR!" Blue bellowed out but a little weakly as he looked around the devastation. He didn't push too hard for the money that Stretch would give him later for his language. 

Hope sighed, shaking her head as she looked around before freezing when she saw something on the ground. She went over and picked up a pack of Black Cloves cigarettes and stared at it with growing horror. 

"It was G. These are his. He smokes these. He must have came back right after I reset and stole Gaster ' s research." Hope said in horror as she looked at Stretch. 

Growling, Stretch reached over for the pack and sniffed at them before stuffing it into his pocket. "I'm going to hold on to these. If this is what he smells like, I will know when he comes back then. And next time, I'm going to knock his fucking skull of his shoulders." He growled before sighing when Blue huffed at him for his language. 

"S-so what now?" Undyne was the one to ask. 

Hope sighed, shaking her head before smiling. "Screw it. Let's just enjoy our day together. We can think about all of this later. We're all together again and safe for now. So let's just enjoy it." She said smiling at everyone.

Napstabot squealed merrily after that and bounced up and down. "Ooooh! Party time then! I am so going to throw a rave then!" She cheered happily. 

Everyone had to laugh at that and agree. They were agree G that they should enjoy it while it lasted. 

Of course, Hope knew it was going short lived for that day. She knew she was going to leave in the morning with Ink to keep all of them safe.

So why not enjoy her last day with them?

The party was at Undyne's lab because she had a big enough space for such a thing and everyone who wanted to be there was there. That pretty much included everyone. Napstabot had loud music playing and everyone was enjoying refreshments or dancing.

Toriel, Asgore, Undyne, Muffet, Fuku, Alphys, the Cat Guards, the Royal Guards, everyone. Grillby even came to have their fun. And even Flowey showed up, though a lot of monsters were watching him warily as he sat in a corner, staring at Hope. 

Hope went over to him, though she did have to tell Stretch it was okay. She had to tell him she needed to talk to Flowey and privately. 

He was watching carefully but at a distance so he couldn't overhear them. 

"Flowey." Hope spoke softly as she approached the golden flower monster. 

Flowey glowered at her, his leaves folded against his stem. "I'm mad at you." He said blankly. 

Sighing, Hope bent down beside him, offering her hand. He drew back a little bit before letting her touch his petals and he leaned into her touch. "I know. And I'm sorry. But I didn't want to endanger you. You're the Prince of this Underground, Flowey. You're needed to be safe." She told him softly. 

Flowey huffed out before looking up at her with worry. "You're going to go with that guy, Ink, aren't you?" He asked very quietly. 

Hope looked sadly at him but nodded as she ran a finger along his petals. "Don't tell Stretch or Blue or anyone, Flowey. Please. I have to do this. It's for everyone's safety." She whispered to him. 

"I won't tell, Hope. But you really should tell Stretch. He won't be happy if you lie to him again. Even if it's to protect everyone else." Flowey said softly, looking concerned. 

Hope closed her eyes for a second because they were stinging with tears but she exhaled a shaky sigh. "I know. But I think.....it's for the best. I love him so much. But if he is anywhere near me, he is in danger. I can't let G hurt him. I just can't. So I......so I have to. Even if it's for a little while." She whispered painfully. 

Flowey sighed softly before he nuzzle her hand with his entire head. "Just.....just be safe and come back to us safely when this over, Hope. Come back to him. And go back to him now. He's giving me quite a creepy stare." He grumbled when he glanced past her. 

Laughing softly, Hope bent over Flowey and kissed his head, making his face light up bright pink. She patted his petals before standing up and moving over to Stretch. 

"So?" Stretch asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. 

Hope just smiled up at him. "We've made our peace. Not quite friends but close enough." She said warmly. 

Now Stretch smiled and nodded as he tugged her closer to him and rest his skull on top of her head. "You want to dance?" He asked now motioning to the dance floor. 

An idea struck Hope and it made her breath hitch as she looked around then at him. She shook her head now taking his hands and in her own and sliding them down just right above her bottom. 

"Not that kind of dancing." She whispered as she pressed her hips up against his. 

Stretch ' s breath hitched as he looked down at her in surprise but his eye lights started to glaze over as he began to growl. "Hope?" He murmured. 

Hope's breathing picked up as she felt the heat begin spreading as she slowly rocked her hips against his, causing a little friction. "Everyone is here. No one is at home. And I want to finish what we started before everything turned to hell." She whispered now in a heated whisper. 

Growling softly, Stretch tightened his grip onto her and teleported immediately away from the noise. 

The next thing Hope knew was she was gently pushed against the wall of Stretch ' s room and lifted up. His hips now pressed into hers, bracing her against the wall as he swooped in and kissed her hard and lustfully. He even wrapped her legs around his waist as he began moving his pelvis into hers, rubbing rather hard against her core. 

Hope gasped as she felt liquid heat spring up inside of her and her head leaned back against the wall while she felt him now nipping at her neck. 

"St-Stretch......." she moaned as he nipped and licked her neck. She reached under his hoodie and began touching his ribs, rubbing at them and making him hiss. 

Stretch growled softly as he used his hips to prop her up against the wall before grabbing at the hem of her own hoodie and her shirt and swiped it up and over her head, leaving her only in her bra.

Hope squeaked and moved to cover herself, blushing bright red but he caught her wrists and pinned them gently to the wall. 

"Don't." Stretch whispered softly as he smiled at her before looking her over. "God, you're so beautiful, Hope. I love you." 

Hope smiled before pressing herself snuggly against him as she kissed him. "If you're going to undress me, let me do the same, Stretch." She said in the most seductive whisper she could manage. 

Either way, it made his own breath catch before he stepped back, releasing her and letting her stand. He let her take the hem of his own hoodie and even had to bend down a little so she could lift it right over his skull. 

And it was her turn for her breath to catch.

True, she knew he was a skeleton monster and he sure looked the part of a skeleton. He was all bones with only an orange glow beneath his sternum. And few would get weirded out at the idea that she was about to make love with him. 

But.....his bones......while they were an alabaster color, there was also a slight......golden look to them. It was like he had very pale gold in the white. 

It was actually a beautiful color on him.

"Like....uh....what you see?" Stretch asked uncertainly. 

Hope looked up at him and saw a golden orange blush on his face and even trailing down through his bones. She saw his uncertainty but she smiled as she reached forward and touched his sternum, now trailing her hand up and down.

Stretch hissed softly before his eye sockets closed and he leaned harder into her touch. His breathing even hitched a few times as she began to explore his bones, his ribs and even wrapped her hand around his spine. He groaned when she began to running her hand up and down his spine. 

"Does that feel good?" Hope asked her voice slightly husky as she felt a tingle running through her hand and up her arm. 

"You....huff.....have......no...idea....." Stretch panted out before opening his eyes and grabbing her by the waist. He pulled her hips into his and sure enough, she felt a bulge in between her legs, against her crotch. 

She gasped softly. 

Growling softly, Stretch began rubbing his bulge against her, making her moan as she felt electric heat run through her core and up her own spine. 

His hands trailed to her pants and he undid them, sliding one hand inside against her sensitive skin until he touched her hairs and then dipped his hard fingers past the hair until he felt dripping wet heat. He only did then slide his fingers inside her and began rubbing her liquid heat. 

Hope gasped softly as she felt her legs tremble and she fell against the wall. She immediately felt his other hand cup her bottom and push her hips into his searching fingers as he slid his fingers in and out of her. 

Pleasure shot through her and her head leaned back against the wall as she joined his pumping hand with her own pumping his spine. 

A weak groan erupted him as he arched into her touch and he sank two fingers in her, stretching her a little and making her cry out. 

"Uh......St-Stretch........" Hope gasped softly as she cried weakly. "Bed. Clothes......off......" 

Immediately he was slipping his fingers out of her, grasping her pants and underwear and tugging them down her waist. He helped her step out of them before he picked her up and carried her to his bed. He laid her down as he hovered over her, sharing a kiss.

"I will take this slow, all right? I don't want to hurt you." He told her. 

Hope nodded as she opened her legs so he could settle between them. "Feel free to explore." She said a little breathlessly. 

Smirking at her, Stretch bent over her, kissing her passionately before starting to move downward, nipping at her skin and making her wriggle a little. It kept moving downward until he came right between her core and it was there, he kissed her nether lips before licking her. 

Hope gasped as her hips snapped up and she moaned as he licked her again before sinking his long orange glowing tongue into her. "Oh.....moh...." Hope gasped as she felt him suckling on her clit and even thrusting his tongue in deep of her. 

Her hands found is skull and she clutched onto him as he licked deep into her tunnels, moving as far as he could. She immediately began to flood with fluid and wriggle her hips as he continued to taste her. 

"Oh, oh. Stre-Stretch......." Hope moaned as she arched her back and hips into him. 

In and out, Stretch ran his tongue deeper into her before he finally pulled again, licking his teeth and grinning at her. "Babe, you are my favorite flavor now. You taste like honey." He growled softly. 

"Stretch......please.....I need.....I can't take this.....ple-please......" Hope panted from that experience. 

Grinning at her, Stretch moved up her body again and covered her, pressing his still covered bulge against her nether lips that caused her to throb with need. 

"What do you need, Honey?" 

"Ple-please.......you......inside me.......no-now....." Hope groaned as she felt herself aching. She just felt empty and she needed him to fill her now. It ached without something there. 

Growling, Stretch sat up in between her legs before undoing his pants and pushing it down to reveal a long, thick glowing orange member that made Hope moan at the sight of it. 

Kicking off his pants, Stretch moved to hover between her legs, his long member now pressing against her entrance. He even reached down and began touching her again, rubbing her little button that made her gasp as she lift her hips. 

Rubbing vigorously at her clit, Stretch pressed himself closer to that heavenly heat until he slowly began to sink in. 

Hope hissed as she felt herself being stretched and he stopped, bracing himself above her. 

"Want me to stop?" Stretch asked now concerned. 

Hope shakily shook her head as she felt the head inside her, stretching her. It did hurt just a little. This was her first time, after all. 

"Just.....just go really slow. I need to adjust to you." Hope murmured as her hips gave a light nudging to his to let him know he could move again. 

Stretch nodded before slowly sinking into her. He would only stop when she hissed in discomfort and he waited until she nodded again. He did groan as he felt just how tight she was around him and it shot pulses of pleasure through him. 

Oh, god he just wanted to pound into her now. She felt so good. 

Finally, he was sunk in deep to his girth inside of her. It was taking all the effort he had not to just start thrusting. 

Wiaiting for a moment as she adjusted, he did wriggle his hips gently and the sound Hope made nearly unhinged him. She gasped and her hips snapped up, urging him deeper inside of her. 

"Stretch.......now. Move." Hope moaned as she reached up and gripped his shoulder blades. 

"As you wish, Honey." Stretch chuckled before he slowly pulled out of her to the tip before he snapped his hips forward again, thrusting in sharply.

For a moment, Hope did gasp in pain as her virginity was taken and she did whimper making him hesistate but he kept going when she didn't complain and began a slowly, steady rhythm. 

Only then pure bliss and ecstacy began to overwhelm them both. 

Slowly at first, Stretch moved in and out of her, groaning as he went and earning moans from her. He had never felt such pleasure before until now. He loved the way she fluttered around her as he slid against sensitive warmth. 

But after a few moments of going slow, he began to speed up and that just made Hope cry out in sheer pleasure as he hit bundles of nerves. She even began rocking back into him and the sound he made had her toes curling as she raised her legs to wrap around his moving hips. 

The new angle sent a jolt of ecstacy through him and he began thrusting harder into her. 

"Oh!" Hope cried weakly as she screwed her eyes shut and her fingers began to dig into his bones. "Str-Stretch! Fast......er.....!" 

His hands moved to her hips and Stretch began pounding into her, his hips jerking harder into her. He groaned very long and loud as she tightened around him. 

"Sh-Shit! Uh!" He groaned as he began to piston into her. 

Hope cried out loudly as she felt him rub inside of her, making a heat coil hot inside of her. She was approaching her limit rather quickly as he began pounding into her. One of her hands slipped down from his shoulder blades to his spine and she wrapped it his spine and began pumping him hard. 

"Fu-Fuck!" Stretch gasped as his skull was thrown back and his eye sockets closed tightly. He was now pounding erratically into her, meeting her speed of pumping his speed. "Oh! Ho-Hope! That feels good! You feel so good!" 

"Oh, oh! Hope cried as she felt herself flying now with him moving so fast and hard inside of her. "God! Stretch!" 

Finding a new spot where it just made her cry in wanton, Stretch lift her hips up a little and hit that spot a few more times until he was almost screaming in pleasure. 

Rocking harder now, Stretch felt her grow so tight that she felt like so freaking good at this point and his own cries began to escape him. He immediately bent over her and kissed her hard, which she responded. 

And suddenly, Hope felt it just explode as she finally climaxed right with him. She just saw stars in the dark of the room and it was so beautiful as she watched it spin around her in golden orange light. 

"Ah! STRETCH!" Hope screamed as she felt the hot band of coils snap inside of her. 

"HOPE!" Stretch cried out as he exploded magic deep inside of her as he climaxed right with her, their kiss growing more feverish. 

And then he collapsed on top of her, gasping and panting within her. 

"Huff......huff.......oh........god......" He groaned as he stilled within her, his skull now resting against her own. She was coated in sweat now and so was he but god, he thought it smelled good. She smelled like honey and licking her sweaty neck, she tasted just as fine too. "I.....huff.....love......you......." he murmured before his hips gave a few more jerk as he started to pull out. 

But Hope tightened her legs around him, panting but smiling at him. 

"You....uh.....better not.....be done yet.......lazybones....." 

Grinning down at her again, Stretch pushed himself up a little before he slowly began rocking into her again that just made her moan and close her eyes as she rocked right back. 

A sudden idea came to him and he halted, grabbing her and flipping them over as he sat her right on top of him. "I.....want you to ride me.......Honey....." he panted. 

Smiling at him, Hope grabbed his ribs before she began grinding into him which made him cry out and his eye lights rolled to the back of his skull as she began rubbing them together in their connection. 

This was only the beginning of a sheer pleasure night together. 

Before she would leave him to keep him safe. It broke her heart she would have to go. But if it meant keeping this wonderful, kind and loving monster safe and alive from G, so be it. 

But for now.......she would make the most of their last night together before she would disappear temporarily from his life until things were fixed and she helped Ink stop G from doing whatever he was doing. 

She would give Stretch and Blue and all of her monsters.....well......hope.


	19. Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye......for now......

It hours later when Hope woke up, still very early in the morning, resting against Stretch ' s side. 

After hours of making love to each other, they had fallen asleep in each others arms. It was the comfortable thing she could have fallen asleep to, despite him being made of bones. 

And now, she laid against him, watching him sleep with a sad smile on her face. 

It was almost time. 

Hope didn't want to leave now that she utterly loved Stretch. She wanted to stay with him, be with him for the rest of her days. She wanted to make love to him every night. She wanted to be with her father. She wanted to play with puzzles with Blueberry. She wanted to befriend Flowey. Eat spider donuts from Muffet's. 

But.......

Being here was endangering them. 

G would not stop hurting them because of her. Her and her True Soul. He would keep coming until he finally capturing her. He would hurt them over and over until she finally gave up and let him have her for whatever he was planning. 

She couldn't let him. 

So she knew.....she would have to leave.

Trying so hard not to cry right now, Hope slowly pried herself from Stretch ' s side, freezing when he clutched onto her, shifting a little. He was stirring and she couldn't let him know she was leaving. He would fight for her to stay and she was almost tempted of calling this all off. 

Waiting for a moment for him to wake up, Hope just sat there before trying again to lift his arms off of her and froze again when he tightened his grip. 

".......mm.....'ere.....ya goin'......?" Stretch murmured sleepily and one of his eye sockets opened by a slit. 

Hope grimaced but then leaned over him, kissing his skull. "Bathroom. I just wash up a little bit before I sleep some more." She whispered. 

Stretch smiled sleepily and shifted a little onto his back. ".......want.....company.....?" He asked and even offered a small grin. 

Tempting. 

Hope smiled but shook her head as she pried his arms off of her but kissed him again. "That would be counter productive." She huffed when he made grabby hands at her to stop her but he was only half heartedly doing it and it made her laugh. "Get some more sleep, Stretch. You sure wore yourself out with me." 

".......mm.......anything for my honey......." Stretch murmured sleepily but he did roll over and started snoring again. 

Tears welled up in her eyes as she stood, Hope did go to the bathroom and washed up. She made it a quick shower, washing sweat, fluid and even what little blood from her cherry popping off of her before going back into the room to get dressed. She pulled onnher clothes and tied her long, wet hair into a messy bun. 

All the while, she watched Stretch just snore away, a smile on his face. 

Tears did fill her eyes but Hope did all she could not to start sobbing. "Stretch." She whispered so quietly, just to be sure. 

He just snored, sleeping on. 

"Goodbye." Hope whispered so softly before leaving the room. 

She didn't leave the house just yet but went to see if Blue was home. And he was. He was sleeping on his bed, snuggled up to a fluffy bunny doll he had, smiling as he slept. She smiled sadly at him and even went to kiss him on the skull. He didn't stir either but just slept on. 

"Goodbye, Blue." Hope whispered so quietly she almost didn't say it. 

And then she left the house. 

It was still very dark and very early morning in the Underground. No lights shone through windows. No one was even awake. 

Hope wrapped herself up in her creme colored hoodie, arms hugging herself as she trudged through the snow, tears trailing down her face. She hated this sneaking off. She didn't want to leave now but knew she had to. 

Heading out of Snowdin, Hope went to her father's shack and there he was, sitting by his big bonfire. He was sipping something hot and when he looked up, he offered her a cup of hot chocolate. 

Smiling, Hope went over to the extra chair he had out for her and sat down, sipping her now mug of hot drink. 

"Did you say your goodbyes?" Grillby asked quietly and very sadly. 

Hope nodded as she sipped her hot chocolate and then looked at him. "I'm going to miss everyone. And you, daddy." She whispered. 

Grillby smiled sadly as he looked back at her, tears threatening his very own eyes. "We will miss you too, Hope. You just be safe, you hear? You come back to us when it's time. When it's safe. If anything happens to you, if it's not safe there, I don't give a damn what Ink says. You come back here and I will protect you. And before you say it's not safe, don't. I do not care if I die again, Hope. I will protect my daughter with every ember of my being." He said seriously. 

Hope smiled sadly before she set her mug down in the snow and went to bend down beside him, her arms wrapping around him. He even set down his as he wrapped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. 

"I love you, daddy." Hope whispered with emotion thick. 

"I love you, baby girl." Grillby said right back before kissing the top of her head. 

From the side, they saw a quick flash of rainbow and they saw Ink now approaching, smiling sadly at them both. 

"Good morning." He greeted softly before looking at Hope. "Are you ready?" 

"No, she isn't." Grillby interrupted as he released Hope, who frowned at him. He just stood up and helped her stand before reaching into his jacket. He pulled something out and Hope gasped softly. 

It was her necklace with the vial of Grillby's charmed fire. 

"I found this while speaking to your mother through the book. It came back to me. I want you to have this again. And may it keep you warm, no matter what and make you think of home." Grillby said softly. 

Smiling, Hope turned around so he could put it back on her, where it belonged. 

Grillby placed it around her throat and did the clasp before wrapping his arms around her for the last goodbye. He uzzled her hair with his head and then stepped away. 

"Keep her safe, Ink, or you will face my wraith." Grillby said now growling at the small paint splattered skeleton. 

Ink just smiled and saluted him with no offense to his threat. "Gotcha. And I'll give you my life if I fail to keep her safe. No fighting back, just a sacrifice for my failure." He told him begore reaching his hand out to Hope. "Ready to go to Inktale?" 

Hope nodded solemnly before taking his hand. She gave her father one last look of sadness. 

And then......she was gone with a flash of rainbow colors.  
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One Month Later........

Stretch was in a very bad place right now.

He was stumbling through the snow, trying to head home because Muffet kicked him out of her cafe. It was all because he had caused a scene again. And he caused a scene because someone had mentioned damn, dirty humans. 

He blew up at that monster for it. 

Because the monster had said all humans were no good, dirty, rotten pieces of crap. Which would have to include the one human he cared most about. 

Plus he was drunk as shit. 

A month ago, Stretch had woken up to Hope missing. He didn't think it was a big deal at first. She probably went to see her father or was wandering around the Underground. He had slept rather late as it was. 

So he got up, got dressed and went to find her. 

He looked. 

And he looked. 

And he looked. 

And then he panicked when he couldn't find her anywhere. He freaked the fuck out when he couldn't find Hope. 

He knew Grillby knew something, judging by the almost eternally sad look on his face when he went asking about Hope. He knew the son of a bitch fire elemental knew something but he wasn't saying. It made him angry and Grillby didn't stop him from blowing up at him. 

No, Blueberry had to stop him from yelling at the top of his non-existent lungs at Grillby, who just took it all silently. 

Stretch searched and searched for Hope throughout the entire Underground but never found her. He never found a single trace of her. 

She was gone. 

And it didn't look like she was coming back. 

It broke his heart. 

And for a month, Stretch was one angry skeleton. He didn't lash out at Blue like he did with others, Grillby being the worse he lashed out at. But he didn't spend as much time as he used to with Blue. 

It just hurt to know that Hope was gone, probably taken by G. 

The barrier had broke because of the Luminosity and humans were coming down into the Underground, causing trouble. There had been so many fights with them now and it was taking everything that Asgore and Toriel had to keep the humans out. 

It just didn't help that Stretch spent more time getting drunk in his depression and even started smoking the Black Clove cigarettes that once belonged to G. 

That was a mystery on its own, he discovered. 

Each time he took a smoke out and smoked it, a new one would appear. Stretch discovered that the pack of smokes was charmed with magic to replace the smokes every time it ended up empty. A never ending supply of smokes. 

And therefore, he used it. 

Blue was not happy with him right now. His drinking, his smoking g, his very depressed attitude had Blue very worried for his older brother. 

But what he could do? 

Stretch just fell apart at Hope's disappearence. He just gave up when he couldn't find her. He wasn't even helping with keeping the humans out of the Underground. He was always too drunk to do anything.

And one night......after getting smashed again, Stretch finally got the answers he wanted but not in a way he hoped for. 

Stumbling through the snow, Stretch was heading home. He knew he was going to get yelled at by Blue again for being drunk. He knew he deserved it but he didn't care. He missed Hope so much. 

He just wanted her back and after a month of anger, depression and crying a lot, Stretch just didn't know what to do to bring her back. He didn't know how to find her. And it wasn't like he could waltz up to G and smash his face in because he never came back either so he couldn't demand to know where Hope was. 

It was just the Luminosity that attacked the Underground. 

Some monsters had been dusted, most were captured and a lot of the remaining monsters were either in hiding or fighting with the Royal Guard to protect the remaining monsters.

And Stretch was fucking drunk. 

Stumbling, Stretch couldn't catch himself this time and plowed face first into a snow poff before just rolling over onto his back, hiccuping and sobbing. He shook as he covered his face, orange tears spilling down his face. 

"Ho-Hope........whe-where the fu-hic! Are you......?" Stretch sobbed as he just laid there. 

Crunching of snow alerted him but he just closed his eye sockets, not caring who it was. He didn't give a shit who was coming to probably yell at him for being a drunken fool. 

He didn't even care if it was a human coming to Dust him finally. 

He just didn't care. 

He just wanted Hope back. 

".......y-y-y-Ya'Re aN-n-n-n IdIOt........" 

Stretch gasped as his eye sockets snapped wide open at that glitched voice that just spoke out. He looked bleary-eyed up at the black face now staring down at him with un-amusement.

Error! 

"Y-you!" Stretch snarled now shooting up, only to groan and sink back down when he got very dizzy and nauseous. He groaned and rolled over, heaving himself to his knees before throwing up into the snow. 

Error just glared at him with his hands stuffed into his black hoodie before shaking his skull with a scoff. "hOW-ow-ow-ow iN-n-n the fUUUck.....aR-R-re.....yO-yo-yoU-u-u suPPose.......tO-O-o hEL-eL-elP-p-p me-E-e." He grumbled in his glitched way. "In-In-Ink-k-k-k iS-s-s aN-n-n id-id-idIOt-t-t foR-or-or ch-ch-ch-chOOOOsing y-y-yOu-uou-ouu......" 

Stretch threw up again before panting as he turned a dark glare onto the small black skeleton. "Wh-what are you doing here?! What do.....do you want?!" He demanded. 

Error just stared blankly at him before huffing in his glitched way and pulling something out of his pocket. He tossed it to Stretch and the tall skeleton saw it was Monster Candy. 

"EA-ea-t-t th-th-thA-a-at-t-t. I......I-I'm.....n-n-no-Ot tal-ta-Lking to-o-o-o yoU.......dr-dr-druNK." 

Stretch ignored the candy and just growled at him as he rolled over, wavering because of how dizzy he was. "An - answer me! What do you want?!" He snapped. 

Error growled back at him before taking both hands out of his pockets and lashing out his hands. His blue cables snapped out and wrapped around Stretch and even snapping his soul out of his chest. He flicked his fingers up and lifted the now swearing skeleton up in the air.

Growling, the little black skeleton walked over, snatching up the monster candy before flicking his fingers again, forcing Stretch ' s mouth open to shove the candy into his jaw. He forcefully closed the tall skeleton ' s mouth shut, who did try thrashing but couldn't escape. 

"No-no-Ow-ow-ow yA-a-a lisTEn to-o-o-o me-e-e-e, yA-a-a idIOt-t-t!" Error snarled right into Stretch ' s face, who glared helplessly at him. He kept his hand over his teeth, forcing his jaw shut. "An-an-and yA-a-a lisTEn to-o-o-o me-e-e-e go-go-gOOd me-e-e-e go-go-OOd-d-d-d! G-G-G t-t-tO-OOk so-me-THi-i-in-ing-ing fRoOm me-e-e aND wANt-t-t IT ba-ba-baCK!! YA-a-a wANt ya-ya-yAaaa Ho-H-O-O-O-pe-pe-pe ba-ba-ba-baCK an-an-and I-I-I c-c-cAN hEL-eL-elP-p-p ya-ya-yAaaa! I-I knOW whe-wheRE sh-she-she i-i-i-is-s-s!"

Stretch froze, now looking at him in shock. He knew where Hope was?!

Reading the look, Error nodded as he finally released his jaw. "EA-ea-t-t th-th-thA-a-at-t-t ca-ca-canDY n-nOW an-an-and I-I-I kEEp tal-ta-Lking!" He growled. 

Sighing, Stretch did what he was told but was not released yet. He was still strung up in the air while Error explained everything to him. He did not mention Hope, however, or where she was. But he did tell the taller skeleton about the other dimensions mirrored to his own. 

He told him that they needed to find W.D Gaster to stop G from doing whatever he was doing. They needed to find Gaster and the original Sans and Papyrus and save all of the alternate dimensions. 

"And Hope?" Stretch asked weakly after everything was explained. 

"........I-I-I wiLL te-ELL yA-a-a wh-wheRe shE-e-e - iS-s-s af-af-after-er-er we-e-e fINd Gas-Gast-Gaster-er-er." Error growled before flicking his wrist and released Stretch, letting him fall. 

"How do I know you're not lying?" Stretch growled suspiciously. 

A nasty, wide grin spread on Error's face before he raised a hand, which glowed and a rip in the air formed, making Stretch jump and look to see a black hole had gormed. 

"G-g-go th-th-thROUgh........th-th-theERe.......th-th-thA-a-at-t-t wi-ill le-le-lead-D-d ya-ya-yAaaa t-t-tO OnE of-of th-th-the-a-a-a oTHer di-di-dimensions." Error said grinning nastily. "Y-y-Ya-a-a ca-can ca-ca-ca-ALL th-th-thaT-t-t onE Ho-Ho-HoRRor......ta-ta-tal-Le......." 

"Horrortale? What kind of alternate dimension is that?" Stretch asked skeptically begore he huffed and reached into his pocket, pulling out the pack of black cloves. "Fine. I'll go check it. But when I get back, you'll tell me more?" 

Error just grinned nastily but nodded. 

Sighing, Stretch looked at the rip in the Void begore he went and stepped through it. He didn't know what he would be getting himself into. 

But if it would help him find Hope, he would do anything.


End file.
